Naturally Unexplainable
by Funeral.Bell
Summary: Discontinued.
1. Mistakes

**A/N**: Alright, I re-posted this chapter because something freakishly weird happened to my document. Instead of the original, WHICH WAS CORRECTED, it was replaced with my TOS fic's chapter. I almost jumped out my chair and started frantically searching for the document. I couldn't find the corrected one, but maybe I'll get back to this chapter whenever I can. But let me start explaining the things I remember. This a tensaishipping fic: a shipping between Steven and Ruby. If you don't like, don't read it. Steven's age is around 21-22 years of age, while Ruby is 11. This is a shota fanfic, so if you're not comfortable with these terms, turn back RIGHT NOW.  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything.

**

* * *

【**•**N**_aturall_**y U**_nexplainabl_**e**•°】

︵

"_With a thousand lies_  
_And a good disguise_  
_Hit 'em right between the eyes_  
_Hit 'em right between the eyes_  
_When you walk away_  
_Nothing more to say_  
_See the lightning in your eyes_  
_See 'em running for their lives_"  
x./Offspring - You're gonna go far, kid\\.x

* * *

If what fate had in store was not one huge charade, Ruby would have thought better to avoid most situations. The pair, Ruby and Sapphire, were inseparable friends with polar personalities: Sapphire was a dignified little girl who wore exquisite dresses and takes pleasure to sit under a tree or watch an array of pokémon flying overhead, proving she had a horrible distaste to battles and rather would watch the serenity of the whirling winds swaying the trees back and forth. As for Ruby he was a loud child with a sense of battling spirit embedded in his soul, his passion burned brightest during a battle, his efforts to advance his partners skills not only made him feel fulfilled but his father would usually show even the slightest hint of a proud smile. Today, of all days, Ruby helped his friend pick several flowers and berries she wanted to customize for her new makeshift headband – he gradually obtained a problem with his eyesight through childhood, so as that sense failed him in modest occasions it made up with his other senses. Ruby's acute hearing caught the sounds of the wind soughing the trees of the grassy area, in a mere few seconds the winds impacted the trees louder than before. In one standard blink his scarlet eyes widened as large as saucers: a blue-red blur past before his face, any closer and the hind claws of the blur could have clawed his cheeks.

His mind fell into perplexity; before he had the chance to even begin to question what creature flew before him the sound of a blood-curling cry sent a shudder down his spine. He reacted beforehand, following his sense of hearing to follow the girlish scream. Heart pulsating, fist clenching, eyes moodily drawing into slits from the anger of his being born myopic, and that his chase towards the dragon-pokémon was utterly failing him. Although blurred, Ruby drew his focus on the brown dot flailing in the claws of the beast, making the child inwardly curse as he identified the pokémon to be a Salamence flying only higher and higher in the affinity of the cloudless-blue skies.

"Nana, Coco, use take down on Salamence! Ruru, use confusion!" he ordered his pokémon, hastily they did as they were told. The several attacks led the dragon flying closer to Ruby's level, giving him the advantage to swipe Sapphire from the blue-beast. As if Salamence recovered on the brink, its temper rose as it took its claws and swiped them down on Ruby's forehead. The blood seeped through the deep gashes, his bit down on his bottom to suppress the pain, his eyebrows were knit together and Ruby's mood darkened. "Give her back!"

His pokémon used the opportunity to give a powerful tackle attack on the blue-dragon, causing it to drop Sapphire and fly away enraged in another direction, but as for Sapphire she flinched at the sound of footsteps approaching her. Ruby's expression, the bloody wound on his forehead, the violent acts of a battle between boy and pokémon…she hugged her knees, her brown hair sticking to her creamy-white cheeks from the salty tears trickling down the corner of her red, puffy eyes. The girl sobbed loudly despite her tone of voice strained and terrified: "Scary…scary…" she repeated like a mantra and Ruby could only recoil his consoling hand and brought it to his chest, he averted his sight to the ground in shame. Ruby grew fearfully aware how this situation could have traumatized her from now onward, but her repeated words were directed solely on him: a monster, a brute.

* * *

The second mistake happened not too long after, the family traveled from Johto to Hoenn in a matter of time. Thus, Ruby became accustomed from distancing himself away from any sort of battling and instead following the path of the magnificent ways of pokémon contests. The splendorous feeling of walking on the catwalk to present one own's pokémon, the brilliance of watching moves performed with the grace of flawlessness, and all with the satisfaction of winning without any sort of violence intended – something Ruby felt calmly at peace with in order to remodel his personality if he were ever to meet Sapphire again to prove that even a brute like _him_ could become a gentle human being. His three loyal partners were graced with all the attributes to win their specific category: cuteness, intelligence, and coolness. The scarlet-hued could only hope with time that his three pokémon could win all the categories with ease.

However all his efforts fell to naught with a battle-maniac of a father like his, Ruby's tolerance dimmed through the years as his father constantly attempted to drag him to battle training or scold him for the "such a minor dream" of entering and succeeding in pokémon contests. The tension soon escalated in the family as Norman grew concern over his son's absent masculinity in anything; he was told Ruby refused to get dirty in the mud for the sake of conserving his pokémons's_ gorgeous_ fur, he learned to sow and enjoy it more than the boy's own mother, and adamantly reject all bought clothing when he can make "so much more _beautiful_ clothing."

Norman felt all his summed up conclusions were only the centerpiece of fearing the worst-case scenario or an unrelenting paranoia, Ruby's action were nothing to be worried about and only a "phase" as his wife always reminded him to ease his wavering suspicion. The train of thought drained when the doorbell rung loudly, Norman snapped back into reality and ordered his son to answer the door. The man ignored the echoing footsteps, the irritated moan, and finally the door creaking open—he couldn't hear their ambient chatter, but it was certainly a boy at the door. Norman assumed it could not be a friend, after all they just moved—and finally heard Ruby wholeheartedly laughing for the first time in years.

It brought the man a certain joy he could hear his son laughing instead on shutting himself from the rest of the world, concentrated on insignificant contests or every ridiculous piece of clothing he customized for his pokémon. Yes, everything was nice…for a while.

Norman had noticed this green-haired boy, Wally, had been frequently visiting the past two weeks since the two children met each other, except they always kept the door locked and their voices were so low it could not be heard from the other side of the door. His wife reminded him it was only a friendship, it was natural for even boys to want privacy from parents, but he could not shake off the strange feeling from the green-haired child. The next day Norman found the door has failed to close correctly and has been overlooked by the two boys—it dawned to him they were only eleven, what could possibly happen?—and just as Norman decided to put aside his solid distrust towards Wally he heard both of them talking:

Ruby: "-why!"

Wally: "It's my only hope to-can you-favor?"

Ruby: "Yeah?"

Their voices previously were heard in patches of a sentence, but whatever Wally was asking for was too low for Norman to hear, thus a strange sense of curiosity brought the man to peek from the gap of the door, and more than anything he knew he was right but wanted nothing more to believe his eyes were fooling him. His son, his Ruby, leaned forward and met Wally's lips for brief moment until Norman stormed inside the room. The door created such a loud noise the tremor followed through several rooms, leading his wife to rush inside the room in confusion and almost out of breath, she could not even have a moment to question Norman's peculiar behavior or the soulless eyes directed on Wally.

"Get out." he ordered Wally in a low-threatening whisper, to which the green-haired boy quickly scampered out of the room without a single glance back at Ruby or Norman. Caroline noticed her husband's eyebrows knitting together, his lips were pursed, and she could only grab him by the arm to restrain him from punishing Ruby right in front of her. No matter the circumstances he couldn't bring himself to fight off his wife but he only turned his heel and muttered something along the lines of "going out for a while" and "how disgusting." Ruby was left petrified and speechless; his tears could not flow from his eyes, the wrenching feeling in his gut only made his mood a lot worse.

The scarlet-eyed could not take anymore of this resentment, he was already conscious of his father's stringent parenting, unable to convey his feeling into words, or how he honestly upheld his homophobia but refused to show it unless it just went too out of line. The boy's trembling fingers were brought to his hat, bringing it lower to cover his vision partly from everything up the hall and beyond, he then jumped off his bed and reached the box hidden behind his cabinets. It was time to put an early birthday present to use for such an occurrence, however he felt a great disdain at the pair of shoes that were meant to be given by his father when his birthday arrived. Fastening the belt on his waist he whispered to his pokémon inside their capsules, "We're running away, guys." With one quick scan around his room Ruby grabbed all the essentials and stuffed them inside his yellow, shoulder-sling backpack.

Ruby took several cautious steps around the surroundings of his home, he couldn't trace a single voice—he almost cursed the fact he should have been more concentrated if anyone was watching him at the moment with Wally by the sound of their footsteps—he then speedily picked up his pace and finally met the fresh breeze that the outdoors introduced him to. With a final glance at his house Ruby took off by the support of his speedy shoes, he wasn't aware where he was going but it was better than being cooped up in the house and wait for what Norman had to lecture him about. The boy continued his velocity, grinning at the breeze passing his ears until he made an immediate halt at a tree for the strange sight of a rather large man shrieking at the approaching Mightyenas glowering hard the defenseless male, and due to his weight and constant struggles the branch broke down and spilled two pokéballs in plain sight.

The man grumbled, clutching his head with his palm and flushed with relief at seeing Ruby, "Are you a trainer? Aha…I'm in a real predicament here, could you lend a hand?"

Ruby, without a change of expression, simply responded flatly: "Nope." Furthermore he explained why he also didn't want to: he wished to preserve the refinement of his groomed pokémon.

With the following sequence of events he eventually did save the man, got to know him a little, gets to keep a Mudkip with mucus constantly dripping from its nose.

_At least it wasn't all too bad_, Ruby admitted with a shrug.

* * *

It has been little over a month since he had the time to recap on those events, _a whole month_ since he ran away from home and effectively avoiding any sort of inkling for anyone to find his present whereabouts. He followed along wherever the contest halls could be found—he moodily sulked when he couldn't present himself on camera with his beloved pokémon, he couldn't risk an appearance on television—and from other occasions he would stop and witness a pokémon battle. Those trainers weren't so ruthless and appeared to be enjoying themselves, but Ruby just glared down at his hands and clenched them into a fist—for Sapphire, wherever she is, he changed for her and will remain that way. Ruby took a seat on the bench and laughed, he deluded his mind to thinking he liked Sapphire before, that he had a _crush_ on her throughout childhood, but kissing Wally felt better than the thought of kissing Sapphire.

After all, Wally wanted a favor and Ruby granted him just that but it didn't mean the scarlet-hued felt particularly happy about kissing a boy, no less his first friend he met since he moved to Hoenn. It felt nice, sweet, innocent, but Ruby held the intuition it would have been better if it was someone else – who it should be even Ruby felt clueless about, regardless it couldn't be Wally or Sapphire. The boy brought out his pokémon, unconsciously brushing Nana's elegant noir fur, sometimes coiling his finger that sidetracked him from his deep absorption of his previous thought. Within moments Ruby held his down in shame, his father would never accept or even bother to understand his curiosity towards the opposite sex.

Ruby shoved his hand in his backpack, picking out his pokénav he received from Mr. Stone at Devon Corporation out of _generosity _as a trade to deliver a letter to someone named Steven Stone, oddly enough Mr. Stone examined Ruby longer than a standard glance and wrote something down quickly and inserted said paper along with the original contents of the letter. Apparently Ruby was the only lucky passenger able to ship off to Dewford town for returning the elderly man's wingull that had its wings caught in branches. The man, Mr. Briney, ultimately decided to take a few days vacation at the small island. Throughout the sea voyage Ruby pressed his arms on the boat's wooden railings, concentrated partly on his pokémon playing, the calming body of water, and his father's last words.

_"How disgusting."_

The boy faked a grin, "Guess I am, dad."

His red orbs peered down at the letter in his hands, the front left stark white without a single design and the only piece present are the typed, bold letter that read: **STEVEN STONE**.

Ruby lolled his head, picturing the appearance of the receiver to divert his feelings away from his father's reaction. Shuffling back to his room he left the letter on the nightstand near his bedside, his eyelids eventually growing heavy, "Steven Stone, huh?" he said sleepily, and finally falling into a deep slumber that gradually lead him up in a horrible nightmare about his father – only today it was different, he actually slept though the flying hours.


	2. Comforting

**A/N**: And here we are. Chapter two~ Lovely. Right now I'm at the end of another tensaishipping oneshot. It's something EVERY kid does—it doesn't exclude boys—with a lot of clothes. xD I find it cute, in my opinion, and I'll post it as soon as I finish. There is only a little bit that needs to be done and etc. Afterwards, check for mistakes the best I can and finally post it. I thank those who read _Piercing and Tattoos_ and reviewed! And my other tensaishipping fics! It seriously means the world~  
**Extra notes**: Rushed. I don't like it. Couldn't help it. Ultimate fail again.  
**Disclaimer**: Holy beeping shet. How many times have I gone through this? Shoooo…don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**︵**

"I know what your feeling it's hard to believe in  
Someone, someone who's not there  
I know that your waiting 'cause love is worth saving  
But only for so long, so long, so long"  
x./Default - It only hurts\\.x

* * *

The sun has set, leaving the sky colored with an orange array of shades that slowly fell to a purple-dark blue blanket. The puffy white clouds gave a more misty appearance, before long nightfall was brought down on the day, however the movements of the boat caused Ruby to stir. He rubbed the dirt out of the corner of his eyes, lazily scanning the room and collecting all memories of sleeping in a rocking boat. He threw his legs around, unbalanced at first from the constant motions of the drifting waves and the boat, he walked across the room to examine himself in the mirror. His slender digits steadily brought his hat up, revealing his black hair and the two scars that served him a constant reminder of his previous blunder. One finger slid down one scar, highly disgusted how it felt leathery to the touch, without delay he tugged his hat back down in repulsion and bit down on his lip. "I look hideous," he said to no one in particular, cursing himself at the horrendous scars that disfigured that very portion of his head.

A tender knock of the door made him jump; he clamped his mouth shut to muffle his surprised squeak and finally composed himself to ask who it is. Mr. Briney announced the arrival to the small islands, to which Ruby hastily bolted out of the door and to the sandy land. He inhaled deeply to the smell of the ocean water, the sandy coast, the scent of _anything_ but the boat – although it was nighttime he already slept away any remaining amount of sleep left in him. Ruby settled for a room in the pokémon center, his eyes bore into the wooden roof as if expecting for something to happen. The door knocked and Ruby told whoever it was to come in—he did not plan on locking it until he was on the brink of consciousness and drowsiness—his scarlet eyes flickered to the elderly captain holding a letter between two fingers. The boy jumped off his bed, thanking Mr. Briney for delivering the letter he almost left in the boat. Before Ruby could promptly shut the door and lock it the elderly man had several more words to say, "So yer lookin' for Steven? Well, boy, most likely he's searching for some of 'dem rare stone again. He's truly a rock-lover."

_Rock-lover?_ Ruby blinked at the letter in his hand; partially unease at the unknown man's strange adoration to rocks – what is so special about a solid aggregate of minerals...? Ruby shook his head, laughing as he attempted yet again to mold this stranger in his head. He held the letter in the light then quickly drawing it back with his heart racing – the idea slipped his mind he could see most of the of the letter's print when held in the light. The boy maintained a strong conflict about snooping but avoided the thought by simply distracting himself with other concerns… but he saw his name in one of the sentences; Ruby could not shake the feeling off. Baffled by the notion he slipped the letter in his backpack, exhausted through the chord of assumptions why his name would be placed there. He could have sworn both Ruby and Mr. Stone were in agreement: deliver the letter and get a pokénav and Ruby's identity would be sealed from leaking to Norman.

Ruby felt a chill run down his spine, he could already picture the furious expression his dad would wear or other further consequences Ruby felt best to not think of. His pokémon, especially Ruru, sensed its coordinator's fretting state and curled up beside him. Ruby's eyes twitched and his lips formed a crooked smile when Zuzu had nuzzled itself under the crook of the boy's neck whilst the mucus running down its nose. It was far too late in the night to push aside the runny Mudkip, ultimately he slept in peace—and oddly enough more comfortable—for the second time in a row. The following day the sound of Wingulls cawing stirred him awake, his pokémon were huddled around his body, making it complicated to move from his current position and allowing his partners to remain asleep. In due course all of them woke up and were active throughout the time Ruby took a morning shower.

Ruru dug its hand-like stubs in Ruby's backpack, fetching the pokénav underneath the other assorted contents. It searched the map, making low but audible noises to Ruby for him to see. The boy peered over, he gave a gentle pat on the pokémon's head and paced the room – Dewford has only one cave: the Granite Cave._ And being the only cave on this small island it would mean Steven has to be somewhere inside,_ Ruby concluded. He hoped the cave would not bring him any trouble; he would sink to self-hatred if he battled in any possible form. Regardless he returned all his partners in their poké balls and departed from the pokémon center. The set of scarlet orbs surveyed the surrounding area, breathing in a sigh of relief with no sight of familiar faces around that could possibly aid Norman on Ruby's location.

His eyes rested directly on the sand, his shoes sinking down on the grainy minerals whilst several splashes of water wetting the ends of his pants – he cursed under his breath: so much for getting them clean! Ruby entered the room with his furrowed brows, already the day failed to go his way and the darkness of the cave was unimaginable. He was surrounded by the shroud of darkness—Ruby almost considered letting Ruru shine light somehow but resisted since the light my attract several of the pesky pokémon lurking inside—so he relied on his sense of touch to guide him through the passages. The endless labyrinth leads him to nowhere, eventually he felt like he has only been walking in circles.

"Eww," he wryly muttered, "I think I'm starting to sweat."

Only it was actually considered normal after walking in endless loops in a particularly warm cave, he would have given up earlier if he hadn't lost himself so deep inside. With another step forward he could feel the certain point under his foot was highly unsteady and after taking another cautious step the ground beneath him collapsed. He popped his head from the rubble, rubbing his aching head and sulking that his clothes might be smudged with dirt. Ruby brushed the dust off his clothes, wincing to the jolt of pain around his foot. _Damn! I think I twisted my ankle_, he assumed the conclusion but dragged his foot to resume the search for Steven.

He could have sworn the path has gotten shorter despite falling deeper down. Ruby followed the trace of light; he fell into awe at the sight of a streaming waterfall glistening from an open air shaft.

"Are you alright?"

Ruby jumped, startled from the voice that broke his concentration on the waterfall. As he turned he thought the waterfall's beauty was far beyond radiant until he saw a man with light blue hair—Ruby could not figure how to describe his hair color that matched the set of eyes—and his sun-kissed skin tainted by several smudges of the rocky dust but it still made the man all the more captivating. He walked over to Ruby; in turn the boy took a step back.

Steven frowned, "I mean no harm." he said, raising his hands to lower Ruby's peculiar hostility.

Ruby felt his ears growing warm, "Who are you?" he asked.

Instantly the man perked, his vibrant smile glowed like his bright-blue eyes. One hand returned back to his side, the other was placed on his chest as he introduced himself. "Steven Stone," he mentioned, paused, and continued, "but I would feel assured if you could tell me if you were injured or not. Aron and I felt something collapsing."

_Aron?_ Ruby peered down, noticing the small iron-bodied pokémon sending the boy a friendly vibe. His sense of pokémon contest-like personality sparked as he immediately scooped the small iron creature. "You're so cu—ouch!" he flinched, the painful ache in his ankle pulsating through his body and his nerves felt like they were dying. The weight of the pokémon and his weak ankle brought the boy to drop to his knees; Aron began to fret and poked Ruby with caution, echoing its voice of concern.

Steven crouched down to Ruby level, carefully lifting the ends of Ruby's pants. Ruby felt a chill running down his spine: he could smell the man's scent, the tips of his blue hair brushing against Ruby's cheeks, and the cold fingers touching his injured ankle. The boy's heartbeat pounded in his ears, causing him unable to hear Steven's conclusion of the injury but he did hear when Steven asked him, "Can you tolerate it enough to stand?" The boy only shook his head, he showed the apparent pain when tried to lift himself up.

Steven sighed, scratching the back of his head and looked back down at his pokémon – who strangely disappeared from his side. "Aron?"

The small creature brought back in its mouth a fire stone, some of the rocky dust still left on it but in spite of that Steven smiled. Patting the pokémon on the head on a job well done he held the red stone in his hand and stuffed it inside his pocket. "With this there should be no more hesitation to get out." Steven announced, turning back to Ruby with a questionable glance.

Ruby shied away from the stare. He blinked in realization and brought his backpack to his chest, he dug his hand further and brought the letter out. Ruby grinned widely, "Here, this is for you."

Steven raised his eyebrows in surprise; he took the letter and ripped one side open. Drawing one paper out he smiled, "Great, I knew I count on my father! Wait…there are two letters?"

His scarlet eyes were brought to the ground; he remembered his name featured from the projection of the light onto the letter. Ruby peered up, trying to analyze Steven's reaction to the paper. For a brief moment he took his eyes off the paper, his blue eyes gazing into Ruby's scarlet orbs and muttered, "Norman's son, huh?" Ruby eyes widened at the mentioning of his father's name sent his mind in an instant state of panic. Could it be possible that the man in front of him will expose where he is to Norman? Steven read on, letting out a sigh of exasperation as he folded the paper together with the other, stuffing both inside the envelope.

"He's gone insane. A _kid_? Really now…" He shook his head, as if disapproving whatever he read on the letter.

_Kid?_

Ruby's eye twitched and sourly thought, _Adults are no better, you know. They're just kids but grown up._

Steven stretched a hand out, offering Ruby some assistance but was quickly slapped away; Ruby grits his teeth and heavily scowled at the man. "Never mind, I can get up myself."

Steven flinched at Ruby's sharp tone albeit fully aware of Ruby's swollen ankle that will prevent him from standing for an extended period of time, he knew he had to help Ruby whether he wants it or not. Steven sighed with a smile—_What a stubborn kid_, he admitted—and looped one arm around Ruby's slender waist, the other underneath the boy's knees and cradled him close to his chest to prevent any instance of flailing or falling. Ruby could just feel his cheeks were glowing with a dark red blush and the warmth crept to his reddening ears.

"I'm not some bride, put me down!" Ruby wailed, weakly pounding his fist on Steven's chest, his strength began to vanish from growing heavily self-conscious.

"What I meant is my father's ludicrous idea, trust me…you don't want to know."

"I-I don't care! Lemme go you—you—"

"'You' _what_?" Steven asked, his voice laced with amusement as he turned his head and witnessed Ruby's face delving into a darker shade of red. On impulse he kissed Ruby on his forehead, he suspected his father's idea might not be _too_ insane. He thought at that very moment the child in his arms looked so adorable that he just had to kiss the boy, nothing more and nothing less. Steven's lip twitch in a grin, it kept Ruby quiet and all his resistance depleted as he remained settled in Steven's arms. The blue-haired beckoned his pokémon to follow, the trio walked through the cavern in silence until realization dawned on Ruby. He twirled his fingers together, not daring looking straight at the set of oceanic-blue eyes, "Promise me you won't tell my dad where I am," he swallowed the lump in his throat, "_please_."

Steven nodded, "I promise."

Ruby failed to calculate how long it would take to exit the cave, his eyelids were growing heavy and he slept cradled in the man's arms, one arm dropping to the side and lagging in the air – the sight—from the dim light provided near the exit—made Steven chuckle lightly that such a fiery soul could fall asleep quick. Beyond the path he could see a brimming light exposing the rocky passage completely at the end of the cavern, signaling the exit is just up ahead. When he stepped outside the rushing smell of waves simply enthralled him, the winds swept past his blue fringes, and finally he brought his attention to the sleeping child. The dirt smudged the corner of Ruby's lip, under his eye, and a little near his nose – for such a troubling personality he would admit Ruby is a _beautiful _child.

Until now he become conscious of the hat on Ruby's head, he titled his head in befuddlement – yes, it suited him but he was curious of the boy's appearance without it. As curious as Steven grew he felt it would be best for Ruby to take off the hat off himself_. Maybe he got a bad haircut or he really loves the hat?_ Steven absentmindedly walked to the pokémon center, deeply absorbed on the possibilities of Ruby's reason for the hat.

**︵**

Ruby groaned. His body felt the comfort of a soft bed, fluffy pillows, a warm blanket, the icy numbing sensation on his ankle, and the smell of soap—Ruby shot up, careful not to move his injury, his eyes inspecting the familiar room. The boy blushed, clutching the blanket tightly as he brought it underneath his nose. Steven appeared freshly showered, the white shirt he wore absorbed most of the wet droplets on his body and exposed several patches of his skin.

Ruby's heart skipped a beat, he always washed before he went to bed, he despised the idea of having outdoor germs and sweat on the bed he slept in – clearly Steven might have assumed Ruby's sense of hygiene because he felt his neck was still damp with water, not sweat. Nor was he in his regular outfit but rather in his pajamas.

The man's expression brightened seeing Ruby awake, "Good to know you're finally up! I never expected you to be a heavy sleeper," Steven mentioned, he took a seat on the corner of Ruby's bed. "Are you feeling okay? You're looking a little flushed…" Steven told him worriedly, he stretched his hand out and placed it on Ruby's forehead. Swiftly Ruby slapped it away.

"I'm fine! Don't…don't touch me."

Steven propped his chin on his palm, snickering with a whimsical tune in his voice. "I thought ahead, I assumed you wouldn't want to sleep with sweat drenching your pillows," he mused on, chuckling at a reasonable volume, "you have such a small body, try eating a little more."

Ruby screwed his eyes shut. _He saw my body, he touched my body._

The scarlet-eyed child threw his blanket over his head, blushing madly. "What's your problem? First you look down on me as a kid, then you k-kiss me, and now you washed—_touched_—ugh, y-you know! And I'm a _guy_ if you haven't noticed!"

There was prolong silence filling the air, invading the atmosphere in a tensing pause and awkwardly Ruby cleared his throat, he presumed he said something wrong but what in particular he was not sure of. His cheeks still were warm so he decided against throwing the blanket away from his face, his mouth opened to say something but Steven beat him to it.

"I know."

Ruby felt deprived of energy to budge from his spot or fling the blankets off his head to see the initial facial features of the blue-haired man when he said that – a voice filled with a mix of regret, recollection, but acceptance as well. Ruby drew the blanket down; he scratched the back of his head and covered up his nervousness with a placid laugh. "Shouldn't you be on your way now? I mean, there is no other reason to stay here with me."

Steven raised a brow, "What are you talking about? You're coming with me."

Ruby lazily rolled his eyes, "I see. Well, then off you-" he paused in his sentence, his scarlet eyes wide, "I'm going…with you—wait, _what_?"

* * *

**A/N**: This chapter came out horrible. Really. I wish I had the energy to improve it but I'll leave it as it is. I'll try to do better for the next chapter 'cause for the next is a little insight on Steven's rapid acceptance. If you don't know what I mean, just you wait. :)


	3. Gotta accept

**A/N**: I have no excuse besides being lazy. -shot- I'm a little worried. This is rusty considering the time I first posted this I was filled with ideas. Besides that I'm sorry for the delay. Kill me _after_ I finish this story. Oh, wait… -hides in the sanctuary of chocobo plushie, a fort of pillows, and a 7-eleven slurpee- I'M READY. Bring it.  
**Extra notes**: Special thanks to **Oro Makoto Hayama** for dealing with my bitching & filling the fangirl in me. I really wanted to post this as soon as possible, so pay no mind to the mistake.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**︵**

"So I'll start to pretend I'm ok  
But you should know by now that  
My life is smoke and mirrors"  
x./Madina Lake - Here I stand\.x

* * *

Lo and behold the events for the scarlet-eyed child, a simple settlement to prove himself worthy enough to face the piercing black abyss for eyes and the distraught frown embedded on his father's face. The voice of reprimand echoing in his head were heard vividly in spite of the pillow depriving him of oxygen, regardless of his twisted fate Ruby remained motionless under the comfort of his blankets. His face twisted in shame his father's words have not left him and yet the caws of wingulls outside have remain a subtle silence. Trickles of sweat ran down his cheeks, eventually he shot up from his bed. His lungs were pleading for oxygen as he sounded his desperate gulps of air. Eyebrows knit together, recalling he only meant to suffocate himself just after he asked kindly—or rather yelled viciously—for Steven to grace his presence elsewhere.

Or bluntly put: get out of my sight or shut up and get out of my room while I think this through, ok? Thanks.

Ruby cast his body back on his bed, curling himself in a small ball and slightly disturbed how the silence has been gritting his nerves. Red irises were directed at the pokémon center poster mantled on the wall, it bright red colors defying the subtle gray cloud weighing overhead his pessimism. A worried, as well as elegant, small voice echoed in his room. He twitched, startled by the sudden noise, and crept out of his bed to follow the sound. His scarlet eyes widened, the window has been left open and whipping breeze passed into the room, some of his messy black locks that slipped out of beanie has swept to the side.

A creature with a fine, lustrous cream-colored coat and beady black eyes watched the child in curiosity, the stalk of its neck adorned by a purple ruff collar with spherical extensions, its long purple ears upright. The creature sat down, its tail swaying left to right – the purple tufts of hair at the end of its tails were alike to the hue of its ears.

Like the sun rising and the complex metaphors of starting anew – except in his case a new wave of emotions flood the negative aura surrounding him earlier. "You are…so _cute_! Hold on, stay right there!" he scurried to the other side of his room, without care he pushed the items in his backpack aside to fish out a camera. "Let me take a picture, you look wonderful. So prim, so beautiful. _Who's your trainer_?" he said the last in utter excitement, wasting not a single minute to capture the delcatty in multiple bright flashes.

The delcatty purred, brushing it cheeks against the boy's legs. The familiar sign of affection, the coaxing voice was far too much of an oddity to be a mere coincidence; the visible smile in its feline appearance reminded him…

Finally Ruby only gulped, his hand cupping the delcatty's ear and sending a soothing stroke with his thumb. "Coco…?"

Instantly the creature's ears twitch, the large black eyes staring at Ruby at the call of its name. It sounded its voice in response, leaving Ruby to stand motionless while withstanding the overwhelming joy for his Coco—the skitty he cared for so dear—to have evolved into the prim feline with an air of elegance surrounding it. However his curiosity piqued at the of state of evolution occurring, _and if memory serves correctly skittys can only evolve through moonstones._

The chord of thought abruptly cut short when there was a gentle tapping at his door, the thick oak door has muffled the individual's voice enough that they only be heard as a light whisper and yet still audible. The door creaked open, an arm exposed but he was suddenly pushed back by a blur of black. A wet slobber ran down his cheek, a powerful tail transferring from one side to the other with force, a set of large paws were set on his thighs and chest.

Ruby's eyes fluttered open, partially gasping for breath for the creature on top of him pressed its paws on his lungs. Steven snapped his fingers, alerting the pokémon matting its paws on the child's frail body to retreat. Ruby wheezed, coughing slightly before one eye was forcing itself open.

Dazzle, dazzle.

Jet black fur striding from head to the tip of its tail, the predatory gleam in its eyes vanished and left it familiar friendless in its red eyes, on either side of its face were patched of black fur in the shape of an upside-down triangle, its canine teeth razor sharp intimidating if it were not his. Ruby clapped his hands together, his smile wide as he resumed to stare at the mightyena in awe. Ruby gently petted the dog-like pokémon, "Nana, you look so _cool! _You'll be the stunning spectacle at the contest!"

Steven shifted his heel uncomfortably, the outlook of the situation lighten his guilt considerably. He sighed through his nose, his lips twitch in a weary smile as he leaned against the door sill. "This is, well…my fault. Your pokémon approached my stones, as you know some possess the capabilities to evolve pokémon. And _this_ happened," he held his hands up in his defense while his smile narrowly became crooked, "I could understand if you might possibly be _angered_ if _you _wanted to evolve them. My apo-"

Ruby did not purposely ignore Steven, he was too preoccupied counting the number of strokes the hairbrush's bristles passed sleekly through Coco's coat.

* * *

Catering to a rumbling stomach, Ruby spooned down a cup of rice pudding coated with cinnamon powder; scarlet eyes were concentrated on the coloring paper placemat left under his bowl of cold cereal. His eyes refused to meet with a pair of ocean-blue eyes quietly waiting for further engagements in the child's actions besides eating, every so often Ruby would flicker his eyes plainly to the several tables across and pause to watch how casually people laughed: faces lacked the qualities of a troubled soul, a life were a father was not _disgusted _that their bloodline finds the same sex appealing. Ruby drummed his fingers against the plastic table, his spoon locked between his forefinger and thumb, lazily he swirled the spoon to watch the milk and cereal crumbs following gently at the pace of his spoon – his mind was better occupied than to make a descriptive analogy of his life to a swerving bowl of cereal.

Steven sealed his hands together, resting the clamped hands under his chin to simply watch the child play with his food, inside he felt a needed urge to ask Ruby "do you want me to dispense that bowl anytime soon? And while I'm talking, can I get your answer?" However the tensing atmosphere clued him to remain wordless until Ruby initiated a conversation instead…or when the silence drove him over the edge enough to rip patches of his blue hair off his head – that possibility felt like it was coming to near as it dawned to Steven there was no progress made. The cold-shoulder? The silent treatment? If the scarlet-hued made so much of annoyed expression that would be considered progress, unfortunately Ruby kept his eyes vacant of emotions, a listless frown etched on his lips.

Steven impatiently strummed his fingers fasted on the table, waiting. Waiting. _Sweet Arceus, so help me-_

"How old are you?" Ruby asked, sipping at his bottled water. Frown. The frown was still there-_oh wait, do I see a little perk? _Steven had his hopes rise in a heartbeat by the thought.

Although he physically flinched when the abrupt question ruined his last train of thought when he fell in a mindless insanity. Steven blinked twice, his smile hanging loosely to conceal the lack of attention. "Ex-Excuse me?" Inside the cornerstones of his mind Steven was wallowing how _dumb _he both looked and sounded.

A break in the epitome of a gentleman made Ruby smirk—that marks one accomplishment out dozen more left to achieve—and more slowly he repeated the same question: "How old are you?"

Steven straightened his back, absolutely dreading the questioned eternally mocking his age after turning surpassing the big "two-o", even if it meant by one year. He sighed through his nose, his elbows sliding on the plastic counter whilst his hands pitifully ran down several blue spikes. "…I'm twenty-one."

Ruby shrugged nonchalantly, spooning down the remains of his pudding absently. "Wow," he said as he licked the spoon with a quick flick of his pink tongue, "you're old."

The man sulked, making a noise of displeasure at the back of his throat that loosely sounded like a groan. His head fell limply on his arm, one palm attempted to conceal the shame—he nearly lost track of his own age after turning nineteen. "Ugh, tell me about it," another fleeting sigh, "it's like your life falls to crumbles when you're twenty…**_always_** marked as old by everyone. It's depressing, really."

Ruby heartily laughed. Steven beamed.

_It does feel good to laugh._

* * *

Time flew by in the day, the afternoon held a deep hue of red-orange radiating from the sun casting away to the other side of the world, wingulls were perched on clothesline, rooftops, or on the large mounds of the rock formation near the entrance of the cave. He shooed Steven away for two reasons: 1) time alone, 2) to have his pride in tact when his ankle held a horrible lingering pain when he took a swift turn in the hallway to return to his room, currently he had his arm bent, fist clenched underneath his chin in order to prop himself comfortably in the respite of the calming waves splashing the surface of the sand, several magikarps were pushed out of the water and quickly returned when the water claimed them back. Several inhabitants were still lingering the area, many of them were the elderly or young couples.

Pools of red flickered for another diversion away from the sickly air of romance, he was caught by surprise when he caught sight of Steven idly viewing the scenery on his Metagross, and the pokémon's red eyes were attentive to avoid the water from the disturbing waves. Several young couples stopped in their tracks, engaging in small talk with the blue-haired man. On the sight he was laughing, patting his Metagross in recognition from the couple's pointing fingers: they appeared genuinely terrified but reached over to stroke the steel creature. Hurriedly they waved, leaving and mouthing the words "bye, Metagross!"

A bright light startled Steven, his Claydol broke free of its capsule and began floating upside down, its small appendages were spinning around its body gleefully. Steven seemed like he was laughing nervously, a hand gesturing the pokémon to relax. Another flock of young couples with their pokémon could only gawk, several of them clapped, others chuckled, and then Claydol beamed a good dose of physic on Steven and several people crowding about. The expressions were quick to change: from laughing to shocked, to smiling to excited, from scared to terrified. For Steven he was levitating in the air, his palm covering his face and giving a great-this-is-_so_-not-happening head shake.

Ruby snickered, he wanted a diversion and he was getting a magic show of people floating in the air, Metagross could only watch with bored eyes and attempted to do nothing but stare at the vivid display. Steven flailed his arms, trying to hoard the doll pokémon's attention back, although it seemed highly amused to flip its trainer in continuous circles. By the time his face became a little green Metagross used physic—which easily overpowered the eccentric doll pokémon—to allow the people floating to touch the blessed ground once again, several small pokémon like zigzagoons and lotads were quick to scramble back to their rightful owners. As for Steven he was laid sickly and slightly dizzy on Metagross's dicus-shaped head.

A chuckle escaped Steven's lips, weakly calling back Claydol—bemused by several terrified magikarp—inside its pokéball. Metagross looked as if said something to which Steven pitifully nodded, eyes glancing at the pokéball before storing it away. Ruby felt satisfied by the show; as much as he didn't want to laugh it escaped in a chord. And then it dawned to him, _I haven't laughed like this in a long time. _As if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders he strode over to bed, drifting fast asleep by the time Steven returned and entered his room.

* * *

Ruby had never felt so terrified when he woke up the following morning.

The close-up of claydol hovering above his bedside, small black pupils could only stare at Ruby fumbling to say something; its arm-like stubs were probing close to Ruby's personal space. The doll pokémon used physic to suspend him in the air, arms began to flail and his legs were kicking wildly in the air. It was great, for a fraction of the second, but his heart was beating rapidly when he was tossed around in the air with flips, twirls—all in the pokémon's good mood. By the time he hit the corner of the roof he assumed the claydol is definitely Steven's. He yelled loudly for Steven out of anger, not a cry that sounded like "oh please help, dammit!"

Damsel in distress? Ruby could only hiss at the thought. Steven stormed inside, looking around frantically before stifling back a laugh.

Ruby was not amused. "I would really _appreciate_ it if I can touch solid ground again, thanks."

Steven nodded, smiling pleasantly that Claydol's antics have been directed to someone else. _Finally! _The man rejoiced, he coughed stiffly to regain his composure and padded across the room to his pokémon. "I'll bring out the water bottle, so release him, won't you?"

Ruby crashed down on his bed, groaning at crawling headache of lying flat on a lightly plush bed with _wooden_ beams underneath to support the comforter. Steven flinched, startled his Claydol's speed to bolt out of the room, and two how rudely Ruby was set free. The scarlet orbs glared daggers in Steven's oceanic-blue eyes, his hand curled tightly around the pillow as he prompted his elbows on the side either side of the bed, properly propping himself up from the twitch pain—red eyes were subtly devising a death sentence, Steven could feel it.

"You know," Ruby said, frowning and pointing a finger at the man, "you're making it really easy to change my mind."

Blink. "You're coming with me after all?"

Ruby tsked, his face coloring as he furiously looked away. Inside he felt a little more lighthearted after his decision –_ a little happy_? He couldn't tell but he knew his face could match the shade of his eyes, his temperament only concealing an overwhelming excitement bottled inside. Steven's steps were loud enough to echo in the silent room, the child's heart felt like it continuously skipped in synchronization to the footsteps. Ruby heard the bed creak at the far end, his arms brushed against a cotton-silk like fabric: probably Steven's suit, he assumed. A hand pressed down on Ruby's shoulder, a jolt of strange chill ran down his spine-

"Thank you," was all that came out of Steven's mouth.

* * *

**A/N**: This was awful. Like seriously. It got updated at least, and I always make promises to make it better. I'm gonna stop that starting tomorrow. xD This would actually came out better if it didn't got updated this late, I would still feel the mojo. To be perfectly honest, this might be the worst chapter I pulled out…I'm gonna pound myself senseless if that happens again. I'm sorry if this chapter drove you away and made'ja feel like not reading. Give me another chance. ;~;

_(By the way, in the manga I found it pretty off when Ruby's poochyena touched the stone and evolved. I could understand skitty's case…this is why I decided to follow the sequence of the manga in evolution. On an unrelated note…CLAYDOL IS FOR THE PURE LULZ. I like Claydol. :3)_


	4. Light of the Frantic

**A/N**: I thought I should update before school begins again, and my writing is still awful that I don't even know why I'm here. My heart is not into stuff for now, I'm going through some serious issues…and I'm a girl who would barely cries, believe it or not. This time I bawled. Well, forget my stupid rant. Let's get this shit on the road!  
**Extra notes**: This chapter is something new, but not necessarily good as you can see. My eyes only spy crap, it seems. Maybe by the next chapter I could be in better spirits. :/ Even though it's kinda effy, I had a lot of fun. Excuse mistakes/errors and clarity. R&R is love.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**︵**

"This isn't me,  
This isn't you,  
This is everything but true,  
Till we come to realize,  
It's what we put each other through."  
x./Sum 41 – Open your eyes\.x

* * *

For the next few days the pair remained settled peacefully as Ruby underwent recovery on his ankle, several attempts walking in a straight line would be uttered with a perceptible hiss and numerous arguments: Steven insisted on staying, Ruby insisted on the opposite. Steven, however, felt genuinely relieved he could communicate with Ruby without having to be spoken by one syllable retorts or curt answers, there were even moments where Steven found the small child's nature of getting flustered '_cute_.' Steven valued his life, he would not dare to utter his inner musings out loud, he was happily content to admire Ruby's ambition to win contests. It meant having his pokémon primed, their coats or furs delicately brushed, and having them avoid surroundings that could possibly be covered with "wretched dust or sweat-coated seating cushions," as Ruby would put it bluntly.

Steven laughed silently to himself, how could he forget the second thing Ruby threatened his life with?

Recently Claydol miraculously learned how to escape its poké ball. Ruby was absorbed deeply that day painting his delcatty's nails to notice the doll hovering around his room; suddenly a long splash of purple coating missed the pokemon's claws. Ruby blinked a few times, gaping like a magikarp when Claydol entered his room, its physic abilities being used on the flailing feline. Ruby's small hand clenched into a fist, he was shaking terribly in aggravation as he yelled bitterly at the blue-haired male who happened to quietly pass the corridor without catching the trouble brewing. Steven did a double-take, blue eyes gazing in awe of the tedious situation.

Then he happened to glance at a very enraged Ruby who seemed to be struggling to preserve his composure. Ruby pointed his forefinger accusingly at Steven, "You…" he began venomously, large red eyes reflecting his moody disposition. "Control your Claydol! If it gets my Coco even one speck of dust from those dirty wooden beams above, so help me I'll shave your eyebrows and half of your hair while you sleep in return for ruining _well maintained perfection__!_" Steven would have laughed if Ruby's nostrils were not flaring, he felt his throat went dry with the fire radiating in Ruby's eyes—child or not—he seemed completely true to his warning.

Steven chuckled; Claydol is now to be kept within a good distance that not even one of its several eyes could to catch a glimpse of Ruby's pokémon._ It could be worse_, Steven decided as he pushed his feet off the wooden floor to allow the rocking chair to steer him back and forth in a calming trance, but Steven held a fleeting smile – Ruby has been restless to leave the island as soon as possible. He understood completely: in one incident Steven helped Ruby outside; the small shops were plenty on Dewford but never struck any desirability, the pair made the decision earlier to eat outside rather than the food the pokémon center offered. Conveniently a ramen shop was not too far away from the distance of the pokémon center and the cave, all seemed great until Ruby had his eyes fixed on the small television propped on a high stand, the old antennas obscured the image on the screen with a few disrupting gray static lines.

The picture has been distorted for a second until the shop owner gave a ruthless punch at the small television, singlehandedly he fixed the television momentarily if it were not for the static lines. Steven concentrated exclusively on his bowl of ramen, his only nemesis at the moment being the egg incessantly slipping from his chopsticks.

Ruby felt many scrutinizing stares from the other patrons in the shop directed at him, the strain made him sink in his seat as he tugged on his beanie to conceal a fair portion of his face. At that very moment his eyes locked on the television, Ruby nearly felt like his heart had suddenly stopped at the highlights of the news.

"And here I take you on scene with the gym leader of Petalburg City, Norman."

Scarlet set of eyes widened greatly. _He didn't, he wouldn't. No, he's too proud. He would do it himself. He wouldn't. He wouldn't! _

Norman wore a signature frown; his eyebrows were knit with a small amount of anger evident from the lit in his dark eyes. "It's been a month going onto two; everyone is worried of _his_ whereabouts."

Ruby huffed and crossed his arms. _You don't look worried at all, _dad_._

"Several officers offered their services to send search parties for my son. I find it completely unnecessary," Ruby sighed in relief, "and I have my reasons but I will conduct my own search."

Steven's eyes flickered at the television screen; thoroughly satiated with his large bowl of ramen as he finally settled his attention on the news broadcast. He has not heard a single word until now, the timing could not have been any better. Absently he brought the leftover noodles in his mouth—

Norman continued, his voice completely laced with a deep sense of retained rage. "My _dear_ son, somewhere you might be watching this. Maybe in dues days you will hear this instead. Keep in mind you are coming _home_."

—and nearly spluttered the small remaining portion of said noodles that day.

* * *

The worries only piled when Brawly called Steven over to a vacant hut to discuss in private after a quick battle—the former champion victorious in a record of four minutes and thirty seconds—Steven maintained the perfect composure and remained neutral when the gym leader led him to a vacant hut, hastily he laid a map of the region on the table. Brawly's red marker traced a circle over Petalburg Woods, from there a straight line was run through Rustboro to Rusturf Tunnel where it got promptly circled, finally the marker has been laid on the table and the gym leader released a dragged sigh. Steven folded his hands, his fingers pressing roughly pressing down on his knuckles, eyes glaring down at the uneven circle drawn on Slateport: the attractions provided in the city brought plenty of tourist throughout the seasons, the former champion hung his head down in bitter agitation.

Team Aqua…

Steven had to be informed by the gym leaders of their masquerading assaults, their acts had puzzled him of their next course of actions, the pressure intensified as a 'leader' to stop Team Aqua - Brawly, of all people, had his own set of blue eyes searching for a response from the former champion. Steven drew a poké ball from his pocket; his forefinger pressed the activation button on the ball, summoning a rather impassive Metagross. The gym leader had been beyond baffled when the large steel creature approached Steven, red eyes scanning the map. Without words Steven only pressed his finger on team Aqua's insignia on the paper, the same finger slid down on every circled area.

Trainer and pokémon had a subtle stare down until Steven matted the map on the floor, stepping back a little and drew an arm to gesture the blunette gym leader to do the same. They remained motionless, watching the ever slow movements of Metagross' piercing blood-red eyes examining map. One colossal arm lifted itself in the air, the claws underneath made one piercing through the paper when the leg was brought down and both Brawly and Steven could feel the tremor of the impact. Metagross brought its leg back to present the slightly pierced map in mid-air; Steven quickly snatched the paper without creating a much more unpleasant rip, his blue eyes fixated on the area before letting out an audible gasp. As an expertise to search for the rarest stones throughout regions, he felt that his assumptions could possibly be flawed. Metagross' answer proved otherwise.

_Deep down I hoped I was wrong…_

"Brawly."

The gym leader was caught off guard now that the vocal communications were back in the open. "Y-Yeah?"

Steven looked away from both the gym leader and the map momentarily, "How is the condition in Slateport currently?"

Brawly stared dumbly. "People-wise? Not good. Several have been kidnapped; the police are looking into that now. Although Team Aqua has left area there could still be a couple dozen lurking around. They caused minimal destruction on the city, a good number suffered from casualties. Um, why?"

"Is the…contest hall still intact…?" he added sheepishly.

"Are you serious?" Brawly drawled out in exasperation, "We're all in of a state of crisis-"

Steven frowned, eyebrows knit together. He gave a much stronger sense of intimidation as Metagross had been watching the gym leader with an unreadable expression.

"Um, it should be?"

Steven sighed, his fingers raked through his hair. "Sorry, I needed to know for someone. Well, back to this map." The former champion opened the rumbled map, slightly guilty the map was not even his possession but now it was thoroughly destroyed. "It seems like the worst-case scenario will happen if we don't get there in time. There's a meteorite several pokémon potentially risked their life to protect in Meteor Falls; this meteorite contains a large amount of power that even us humans could detect. Several people, like myself, tried to remove it to relocate in a much safer location but the pokémon grew aggressive if one were to dare touch it."

"So, in other words, Team Aqua wants this stone-thing, a _dangerous_ stone-thing. That will cause _what_ exactly?"

Steven felt the need to correct Brawly when he referred a meteorite to a 'stone-thing,' he bit back. "The volcano would remain dormant; they will be a step closer reaching their goal of a flooding to create vast ocean by the time they unleash Kyogre as they have originally planned. Unless," at this point Steven couldn't help but have his lips twitch upwards in a grin, "we could thwart their plans by reaching Meteor Falls before they do."

_The pokemon's protection over the meteorite could wait until later._

Brawly pumped a fist, an eager smirk riddled on his face. "I'll spread the word! Then we could get right on it. But sit this out, Steven. Even if we happen to stop them from getting the meteorite, don't think for a second they won't be coming after us individually if all else fails." Brawly spun his heel, he had a sprint start with one leg up before he made a loud "oh, yeah" sound in the back of his throat.

Steven called the colossal steel creature back in its capsule, tensing awkwardly when Brawly gave him the most curious expression. The gym leader searched the words before beaming, "Y'know, I still don't get why you wouldn't want to remain as Champion. I could see your abilities even through that battle! You have the potential to be a leader, not that you already _are_ by helping all of Hoenn exterminate Team Aqua's no-good ways. But, who am I to talk? Heh, see ya!"

Steven contently waved, his hands dug deep in his pockets to feel the small capsules rolling around in his pocket.

_Potential, huh._

* * *

As Steven left the hut a long-winded discussion surfaced with Brawly that under no circumstance would he, the former champion, had any desire to go _surfing_. Thus, shortly upon arriving at the pokémon center Steven had the strongest urge to sit on a plush beanbag chair or take a long rest. The past several days never lived to be quite the vacation he hoped for; his desires were only minimal compared to everyone else – a dream of adventuring through various regions in search of rare stones. He agreed with the cornerstones of his decaying conscious that a nice rest would provide few hours of pure bliss, instead he dragged his feet a room over to at least show his face after abruptly disappearing to speak with Brawly.

Lazily Steven turned the knob, his mind exhausted to reconsidering knocking first before entering; his weak smile ready to greet the small stylist perfectionist.

And that woke him up.

Ruby was not inside his room.

Ruby's belongings were either with him or directly hidden from sight, the poké balls that were always on his bedside were no longer there. Steven took a step back, eyes frantically searching the hallways, and then he quickly slammed his own door open. Empty like he left it, untouched at the very least – Steven would not deny his time was easily consumed spending hours in Ruby's room rather than his own. The man's heart drummed through his ears, his mouth gaping a few centimeters in a desperate attempt to call his pokémon out. However, words failed him. Steven proceeded to rely on instinct that overwhelmed him and completely fogged all reasonability to call his pokémon for further help instead.

_"…keep in mind you are coming home."_

His heart tread the great shallows of guilty despair, only several individuals would give the child a second look before jumping to the conclusion of being Norman's son – Ruby informed Steven a few days ago he always, even when chances were painstakingly continuous, refused public attention brought to him by television. This advantage served when the general public was left to rely on descriptions as the slightest inkling of the appearance of Norman's only son. He has been described constantly in news clipping, Ruby told him, but the mental picture varied for everyone who would take their guess. The blue haired man smiled how precautious Ruby is for someone so young, any other child could be pegged having the strongest desire to be on television.

His lungs were burning, sweat trickling down past his neck, the island may be small in comparison to city life but there were still many badgering vendors surrounding the huts. He shook his head whilst running; only a selective few would be able recognize the child: Ruby's parents, Steven himself, and apparently Mr. Stone. Those pleading red eyes made something inside of Steven turn uncomfortably, Ruby's attitude could be that of any good or nasty child his age—although his temper bordered adorable and terrifying—and yet he was like a precious gem that Steven had the greatest honor to touch and to _hold_. Naturally he was a head-strong individual; failure was never an option from beginning to end.

_It's not starting now either!_

The hidden fan clubs had forced him to keep them company—somewhere he was afraid his father would scold if he diminished his gentleman persona for even the slightest second—the vendors were worse. His mind was screaming, _No! I don't want a magikarp! Claydol terrified one too many anyway…_

And how could ever refuse a conversation with the elderly? Deep down he would have 'ditched the old farts,' further interruptions included seeing another "Claydol magic show! Starring Metagross, the silent hero!"

Perfect face-palm moment. He had to withstand the interruption with a crooked smile, a gentle profile…

"My sincerest apologies, I'm searching for someone and quite in a rush. So if you'll excuse me," he gave a goodbye-nod to the people striking a conversation, hastily striding towards the other locations left to seek. The sun gave a faint glow, clouds were tainted in a splash of light orange to black, minutes away the island would be covered in a midnight-blue blanket with bright stars scattered through the horizon - nighttime, in a typical tradition, were never the safest hours for trainers and coordinators alike even in the 'safest' areas of Hoenn. Steven panicked, Team Aqua might possibly be hiding in the shadows of Dewford for all he knew or Norman could likely be somewhere in Dewford by some remote chance.

Thoughts were running at a mile per hour. Steven stopped abruptly, heavily breathing running around every square inch of Dewford left his throat dry, eyes burning when sweat trickled near the rims of his eyes. _All restraints be damned_, Steven's hesitant steps turned into a savoring run, his body fell to his knees once his arms wrapped around the frame of the child. Ruby jumped in surprise, his heart leapt in his throat, the forlorn expression switched to that of pure shock—

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Ruby asked bitterly, head craned to see the culprit. Quickly he elbowed Steven; when that failed he turned his body attempting to push off unrelenting arms…all futile. Ruby hissed, "Let go, you're sweaty!"

Steven ignored the excessive wriggling and verbal abuse, the weight on his shoulders lessen, all negative assumptions in his thoughts were cleared and having his body comfortably pressed on one bony shoulder made him eternally pleased. _He's okay,_ just those two words repeating like a mantra had the constricting feeling in his chest lighten considerably.

"C'mon, off! I just had these clothes clean!" pleaded Ruby, the long extent of such an awkward embrace made his scowl appear like an uneasy frown partnered by a deep blush creeping on his cheeks. Ruby tried shifting in the sand, hands curling around the ocean water and moist sand.

Team Aqua, Norman, his own title…meant like nothing at all at the moment.

* * *

"I got bored of hearing your nagging; sometimes you're worse than my own mom." Ruby said, eyes bored and walking idly towards the pokémon center. Steven, in turn, laughed sarcastically in a weak retaliation. "With you gone for long time I took the opportunity to get out on my own. I took my pokémon out so they can enjoy their time on the beach, I just sat back and relaxed the whole time while biting the urge to dust the sand off their coats…but I'm pass that. Anyway, I'm back on my feet, as you can see, _fully _recovered after wasting a good portion of my life in bed because of a _certain someone_ insisting I stay in bed. _But_ I won't mention any names."

Steven rolled his eyes, "It's great you're finally able to walk, although you could have at least tried to find me. Your safety is my top priority—don't glare at me, Ruby, it's rude—anything could happen."

The scarlet-eyed scoffed, before he could respond back his attention diverted at Briney surprisingly enough. The elderly man greeted Ruby with a bright grin, "Just the person I wanted ta'see! I'm done with my vacation; if you're ready to depart meet me at the dock at anytime."

_Perfect timing,_ Ruby mused. "Thanks, Mr. Briney."

"No problem! Ehh, but don't classy up my poor Peeko again. It took a mighty long to remove the makeup."

Steven arched a brow, his mocking grin subtly directed at Ruby's personal antics. Ruby ignored the look, laughing shakily towards the comment. "I understand."

Briney almost left before giving an 'oh!' look, "I hope ya don't mind another passenger. The lil' missy needs a lift back to Rustboro."

Ruby would just wave it off, 'his approval should be of no concern' he was planning to tell the elderly man, but his hand fell immediately back at his side. He gawked at the girl appearing behind Briney: large blue eyes silently greeting him, a toothy grin, and her pale brown hair used in such a familiar hairstyle…

The boy gave a silent gasp, "S-Sapphire…?"

* * *

**A/N**: I would like to send my regards to my sister; if it weren't her I would have started this chapter WAY LATER. A lot of this is, of course, sloppy. I think my writing will remain like that if I don't shape-up, but for now I don't care 'cause I wanted something done… I got you guys left in a cliffy just several days away from school consuming my time to the extreme (but I have an idea for the next chapter.) In any case, let me get my pillow fort ready. But a shout out for you guys: thanks peeps, the reviews definitely lightened my spirits after much emotional crap! :CD I'm sorry if what I write is downright confusing, I just have a major problem. Thus, even though I'm terribly shy and embarrassed…

**_I AM LOOKING FOR A GOOD BETA!_**

**A beta that is, of course, familiar with my works and can tolerate whatever I'm working on/will work on. Some people might not be comfortable with the thought of Ishi/Tensaishipping or slash in general, I can't have that. I need a beta that will be able to cope with my 'confusing' lines and the such, can deal that sometimes a word would be missing from a sentence (not like I mean it…) grammar, better word choices/word sentence structure, and past/current/future tense of course. Those willing, please PM me. I'll look into your profile or just tell me about yourself. Thanks.**


	5. Against the World

**A/N**: I lost my pokemon sapphire game years ago, so I bought it again just recently in used. :D Whoever had this before, ARCEUS BLESS YOUR SOUL! The person collected every single damn pokemon, and better yet…THEY'RE ALL SHINY + JOHTO'S LEGENDARIES (in shiny form) ARE IN THERE. I totally migrated them to my Platinum and Diamond game, and soon I'll get them to my SoulSilver. I forgot how much I really enjoyed a "classic," and I TOTALLY FANGIRLED WHEN I WENT INSIDE STEVEN'S HOUSE. But I'm gonna restart it; it's not my file anyway. SO, POINT IS: I'm having a hard time relying on the pokemon walkthroughs on youtube just to get a decent location of Hoenn without having to search the infinite amount of parts. Have I ever mentioned how much I love the Regice/rock/steel-battle music? -hearts hearts-  
**Extra notes**: Other than my tardiness, I'm gonna add a special little tidbit in our -former- champion's personality. More realistic, if possible, ya'know?  
**Warning**: Cross-dressing.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 5**

︵

"I see through your disguise you are tangled in the lines  
Caught between where hope collides (your staring eyes)  
Your heart is paralyzed tonight and the world will melt away  
Hanging on the words you say with every word  
With every word, you put your heart in my hands"  
x./TRUSTcompany – Heart in my hands\.x

* * *

The two children seated themselves adjacent to each other, settling to the noise of the rolling waves, cawing wingulls, and their steadily paced breaths. Only an hour prior boarding the ship, Briney announced a storm brewing from the shifting tides, causing Ruby to arch a brow at the elderly captain. He placed his glasses on momentarily, and even squinting provided no indication of the slightest speck of gray overhead, there were no roaring waves, flashing lightning, or a flock of pokémon hurriedly leaving the supposed area. With a content shrug, Ruby gestured for Sapphire to proceed downstairs to the quarters of the boat. Ruby followed suit when he spared the sky a final glance before descending down the rickety stairs. The chords of events lead the pair to their current situation: an uncomfortable silence, eyes shifting to any direction but the opposing member.

Ruby felt a twinge of hurt; Sapphire's evidently held no recollections of him. _Looking back_, Ruby thought,_ is it really worth bringing it up? _Assuming the outcome, a friendship could be rekindled from the lost of connection. However, Ruby shifted uncomfortably contemplating the other scenario; Sapphire could easily take her leave, having no such desire to associate with the very "friend" that traumatized her peaceful childhood. The stakes were high, he was fully aware of it, but the burden of the latter felt too much to grasp after leaving home. Would she, knowing his identity if he told her, reveal everything to Norman as a sense of revenge or a form of caring friendship? _I'm probably digging my own grave_, his reasoning bitterly nagged, _she might ask more questions._ A litter of insecurities was stitched in his heart, he thought best to evade further problems – but how could he avoid Sapphire? She was sitting so close—they were friends, _best _friends.

The boat rocked violently.

It was now or never.

He had too much pride to blatantly admit the overwhelming fear coursing through his legs, he stumbled in his stance the minute he attempted to stand firmly erect, and for a brief second his mind was conflicted pursing his friendship with Sapphire against laughing the entire matter off. He would be stammering to make a joke to ease the tense atmosphere, from there he would retreat to the deck to brood for the remainder of the day. As pleasing as the alternative sounded in his head, he decided against it and called out Zuzu. It was a selfish act of reassurance, if all the scenarios he considered beforehand would plummet beyond the definition of 'horrible,' he could make a speedy escape using his runny-nose pokémon as an excuse. With a sharp intake of air, he exhaled through his nose.

Red eyes locked on Sapphire's puzzled and uncomfortable stare. Clearing his throat, Ruby opened his mouth, "Sapphire, I…"

* * *

Peeko's intensive, calculating thin-black eyes was starting to freak him out. At least it served as a distraction.

Truth be told, Steven Stone always had a reoccurring sickness in his stomach whenever the situation called for him to be on any floating vessel—boats, ships, yachts, all of them. He would only resort to such torture if the presence of rare rocks was only a small distance away, otherwise he would formulate a plan without going near the dreaded contraptions. He cursed silently the moment the ship set off, his body swaying by the metronome of the boat, the pit of his stomach uneasy from the slightest, if not endless, movements. Originally, Steven had planned to call out his Skarmory to fly back to Rustboro; his Metagross would follow Steven's order to reach the city by means of levitating – two _spectacular_ alternatives without having to suffer the prolonged nausea. Briney went to fetch Peeko, but rather turned his heel to fetch a dozen paper bags for the queasy adult. Steven was forever thankful Briney did so with a minimal amount of taunting and laughter. Setting the remaining bags on an adorned platform, Steven leaned against the boat's railing. With a single bag to his mouth he could feel the shudder running down his spine emptying his stomach's contents.

_Arceus, why did I eat today? Whyyy. _Steven mused pathetically.

As Briney signaled the approaching storm for the second time, his index finger pointing towards the rumbling skies, Steven paled—spending most of his time in caves through his explorations for rare stones and rocks, there was not much color in his skin to begin with. The clouds were of a darker, more ominous shade of the deepest dyed blue tangled with black, but Briney seemed to disregard the weather. Years of experience and knowledge granted him the skill to distinguish weather patterns, the elderly captain reassured the storm was rather weak from his expertise voyaging. Steven uncharacteristically groaned when specks of water splattered on the deck of the ship, soaking the end of his pants along with his red socks. The boat tipped slightly, Steven grasped the handrail for dear life whilst his free hand clamped his mouth shut as he felt the forceful expulsion of his stomach's leftover contents rising in his throat. Ungracefully he nodded in gratitude when Peeko pecked his arm with her beak, offering the baggie hanging by the tip of her bill.

A flush of relief, and a bag later, Steven perked at the sight of Rustboro only several yards away. His smile instantly twitched downwards, the sight of a ship hurriedly approaching the boat by the rear evidently signaled the start of a troublesome situation.

And the flag rose.

_Team Aqua…? Wh-What are they doing here?_

Steven fished a poké ball from his pocket, calling his Metagross out on the deck of the ship in addition to alerting Briney to contain both Ruby and Sapphire in the room. Before the captain could budge an enraged Sapphire marked her presence by her shrill scream, "Stop lying! You're _not_ him, you're _not_! He wouldn't hesitate to battle me, n-no, leave me_ alone_!"

_Why does nothing ever go according to plan for me? Please. Just why? _Steven had a rising urge to inform Team Aqua, 'Uh, yeah, just give me a moment. I need to bang my head into the wall. Won't take long, I swear.'

Metagross voiced loudly to its trainer, alerting Steven of the close proximity between Aqua's ship and Briney's. Several Aqua grunts were peering overhead of the railing, their snide smirks and aloof chattering grated Steven's nerves. The other grunts remained stiff under the intimidation of Metagross' piercing stare; the assumption of its large body fully capable of creating severe damage upon their own well-being on the ship caused several to intelligibly retreat. Steven quietly rummaged his pocket for another poké ball, inwardly cursing his choice of second elemental pokémon bearing a strong weakness towards water.

_Thank Arceus for fossils._

All were left unaware of Steven's planning, all except for head of Team Aqua himself. Archie set his foot on the ship's handrails, trademark smirk in place as he leaned forward in an arrogant manner, "Not so fast, Stone." he warned gruffly, his abyssal black eyes shifting towards a grunt. With an affirmative nod, the grunt jumped off the railing, landing within a lengthy distance from Steven's position. For a brief moment the grunt scanned the area, intercepting a startled Briney to firmly grab Sapphire's thin wrist. Through a sudden, forcible turn Sapphire faced the opposite direction from her captor, the grunt's arm locked around her neck to the point of suffocation. Sapphire wriggled, the color of her sun-kissed face gradually paling from the deprivation of oxygen, her feeble attempts freeing herself from his grasp ending in a futile struggle.

Ruby poked his head through the door, large red orbs widening at the intruder aboard the ship. The petrifaction left his body motionless as much as his body screamed to move_ and do something!_ His red eyes trailed towards the grunt, the constant movement made the grunt move sideways, exposing Sapphire desperately trying to break free. His mind reeled back to the memory of his childhood when the salamence had almost taken Sapphire as prey, his face vivid in rage but under the surface he suffered a strong resentment from that point on. Gentle steps turned into to a running sprint, one hand ordered Zuzu to jump inside the violent currents. Ruby's nostrils flared, an anger boiling in him having his friend in the face of danger yet again—

Ruby wrenched the beanie off his head, tossing it aside as he rammed the grunt to the opening space of the deck—which lacked the railing piece—sending all three to the water. Zuzu accepted its owner's silent demand, and with the grunt's realization of his vulnerability he momentarily pried his arms open to cover his mouth from the salty water rushing inside throat, giving the mudkip the opportunity to rescue the unconscious Sapphire—despite the struggle between the size difference—back to the surface. However, before Zuzu returned to the surface, its eyes flickered in every angle for its trainer. In its disappointment, Zuzu hung its head low, its tailfin paddling upward to the surface.

Steven sighed with relief; Sapphire was led back to the deck by Ruby's mudkip. His oceanic blue orbs frantically flickered from one direction to the other, a growing panic filling his head of Ruby's absent presence—not even the boy's shadow could be seen from the blasted skies obscuring the water's normally clear view. Several grunts jumped on the deck of Briney's boat, calling out their pokémon and blocking Zuzu's path to the water. Steven felt disoriented; the boat's constant movement clouding his head with nausea, there was also the repulsive acidity aftertaste left in his mouth. Metagross' movement and its added weight rocking the boat made it far worse to tolerate the explicit sickness in his stomach. Then it dawned to him only several of his pokémon would be able to tolerate many pokémon attacking all at once, including without adding unnecessary weight to the boat…

_I knew I had you for a reason._

"Go, Claydol!"

The light projection called out the eccentric doll, its many eyes inspecting the pokémon approaching with a growl, its stance ready to launch an attack. Claydol paused, eyeing its trainer, its appendages floating around its body.

Steven nodded, "That's right, have _fun_."

Claydol joyously bounced in the air, its psychic abilities causing a dozen of small pokémon to levitate further away from floor-level. They whimpered, flailed, and screeched when waved in the air whimsically in rapid motions. Several grunts were calling out to their pokémon to break free—or rather attempting—but Claydol was highly entertained having the opposing pokémon constantly hit the ground before springing back in the air. With the blockade partially conquered, mudkip nodded to Steven, splashing inside the water in search of Ruby.

* * *

Team Aqua eventually retreated.

Steven praised his pokémon for their valiant stamina; Claydol seemed content 'playing' throughout the battling period it remained neutral for the time being. Sapphire, bundled in a towel and shivering, stared plainly at the ocean, not budging in the slightest or uttering a word when Briney tried to engage small talk to divert her attention from the water. A painstaking hour rolled by without any trace of Ruby. Zuzu immerged from the water for umpteenth time in a row, shaking its head in disappointment. With a heavy sigh, Zuzu returned back to the deck, it froze midway at the sight of its trainer's beanie left discarded, its eyes saddening as it nuzzled its face on the white fabric.

Steven, resting his back against Metagross, buried his face in his hands. _Ruby, where are you?_

_

* * *

_

Ruby was eternally grateful to the friendly wailmer that led him to dry land instead of allowing his fate to be sealed and sink to the bottom of the ocean. He was grateful the plump ball whale was essentially round enough to provide him comfort the remainder of the trip to the nearest clearing. He did curse the entire world's contents for the multiple large boulders in the water that prevented the wailmer from swimming further north towards Rustboro. His soaked clothes provided him extra weight, a downfall to his original plan to run for dear life away from _Petalburg's_ beach_. _The familiar scent of tulips invaded his nostrils; the gust of wind brought a shiver down his spine, his legs trembling from the combination of cold and fear. He took his first cautious steps, conflicted to depart immediately and settling in Briney's cottage until the boat return. Being exposed to every citizen in Petalburg that has seen him in several occasions near the beach, the pokémon mart, or near the pond beside his father's gym paranoid him. Jaded scarlet hues glanced at the flower patches, his heart racing at the several citizens eying him curiously. Several facial expressions appeared to read, 'Do I know him?'

Self-consciously he brought his hand forward to tug his beanie.

_Oh right. I didn't want to lose it in the water._

He sighed in relief, the moment he moved to the Hoenn region he wore his beanie at all times. Only the intelligent few would see the resemblance, but he laughed mockingly at the country bumpkins that resided in Hoenn, the industrial life of Johto was but a fleeting memory. He squeezed the hem of his shorts, of his shirt, and kicked the remaining moisture sliding down his leggings_._ His scarlet eyes focused on the entrance of Petalburg woods, the difficultly maneuvering in the dimming light of the day gave him the slightest twinge of growing apprehension: without his pokémon—his bag was left inside the spare room of Briney's boat_—_he could face a dangerous situation with swarming bug pokémon and their poison. He directed his attention to the entrance of Petalburg and its options: a warm house, his loving mother, a delectable meal, his father's murderous anger waiting for him…

With a spin of his heel, Ruby headed into the woods.

_I value my life, thank you very much._

Ruby could sense the bug pokémon eyeing him, carefully observing his paced steps through the woods. He tapped a bug catcher by the shoulder, explaining a false reason why he did not carry his pokémon with him, and thankful to his power of persuasion he could maneuver freely without idly worrying of the pokémon lurking in the tall grass. A few ambushes later, Ruby was led to the other end of the woods. Route 104 never seemed so much like a blissful heaven compared to the hellish radius of Petalburg's surrounding area, his heart felt at ease at the familiarity of his surroundings – from the large pond, to the flower shop; even the trainers were deeply absorbed in their own matters to pay him any mind. Ruby strode further, his hand taking place of his beanie to conceal the two scars on the side of his forehead.

His smile perked as he walked past the sign that read 'Rustboro City,' the pavement eased his soul rather than Petalburg's grassy patches. Ruby continued past the pokémon center, past the school, and finally his hands instantly bawled into fists standing in the front entrance of the Devon Corporation building. He needed help; he needed someone to contact Steven to have his pokémon—along with his beanie, if possible—returned in one piece. He ignored the receptionist, the scientists, several others that attempted to barricade further entry, and after several flights of stairs he entered the final door. Steven's father peered away from his book, his warm smile welcoming Ruby to close the door and properly seat himself

Then Mr. Stone sniffed the air loudly. "Dear boy, you smell like a departed magikarp frying in the sun!"

_In other words, 'You reek!' Thanks, I appreciate it._

A long conversation and cup of warm tea later, Mr. Stone smiled again, mumbling a few words to himself that Ruby could not audibly hear, he then reached for a small compact device beside the framed pictures on his desk. For the next few seconds Ruby eyes wandered around the room, he hopped off the couch, trekking to the back of room to inspect the collection of rare rocks and stones assembled in the glass containment. Numerous of them he has never seen, he admired the radiant shine a few of the stones illuminated from their mysterious essence. Several were labeled from their appropriate region the stones were found: Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh…_Unova?_ Tilting his head curiously at the last region, Ruby shrugged, situating himself on the far end of the sofa once again.

Mr. Stone selected a function, having the device on speaker for the call.

_"Yes, father?"_

Ruby, startled by the voice, jumped in his seat.

"Ah, Steven, I sincerely hope you are in _decent_ condition from your disastrous ordeal."

_"What are you talking about…?"_

Mr. Stone called in his receptionist, muttering a form of code into the microphone. Two workers hastily stormed into the President's room, partially out of breath, and ordered Ruby to follow. Mr. Stone gave the confused boy a reassuring nod, shortly after Ruby was out the door the man returned to his call.

"Ruby informed me about everything, he has returned to Rustboro because of a miraculous encounter with a wailmer. Steven Stone," the man groaned in exasperation, "my boy, how could you let this happen? I left him with you for a reason _and_ favor; I'm willing to risk having this exposed to Norman in the end-"

_"I…my apologies. I'm on my way there."_

_

* * *

_

_I love you, Devon Corporation. For having eve-ry-thing~_

The tune chimed in Ruby's head…until he faced the clothes he had to wear for the remainder of the day. The trainer school's uniform consisted of a white button-down shirt, a sandy-brown tie to match the choice between khaki pants or the shorts_,_ for the females there was no difference except the including skirt. He eyed the two men who escorted Ruby to the shower room; they only informed Ruby he had to attend school for the remainder of the day. Purpose? _Classified. Seriously?_

There were a few choices: whine, protest, run out the door with the towel he had wrapped around his body. Looking at the uniform, Ruby crinkled his nose in disgust how something _so_ boring, so bland, _so_ _dull _could suit his taste.

"Get me black leggings, a wig, and some hair accessory for Arceus' sake." he ordered the men without missing a beat.

At least with the skirt there was more freedom.

* * *

Questions had yet to cease: why did Rustboro have classes in the afternoon? Why do the school children have such tacky, lifeless uniforms? _Why do I have to go? I want to be a coordinator, not a trainer._

Ruby gazed plainly at the board, his frown apparent from boredom, his conscious slowly drifting for a well-needed rest. He twirled a strand of black, curled hair around his finger—he also questioned the men's choice in wigs. The wig chosen resembled a mareep's curled tuft rather than the bouncy curls most girls had in the class. With a low, exaggerated sigh he set his focus on to the window. Ruby could see a dim reflection of himself, the outline of the floral hair accessory adorned on the wig_; _from there he took notice of the skirt along with the leggings he wore underneath_. _The small concentration he had on lesson of healing status ailments diminished completely as he narrowed his eyes in a comical amusement, lost in his own bemused thoughts.

_It's no surprise I could pull off girl clothes. At least the wig's curl-ish bangs cover my scars. But eck, these flats are hideous! Low heels would be more suitable footwe—Ruby, stop losing track of yourself. This is only going to last until the end of class._

His concentration was brought back to reality as the boy sitting right beside him placed a note on top of Ruby's notebook.

_Oh, what is this?_

Without sparing a glance at the student's face, Ruby unfolded the paper. He could have snorted at the pitiable handwriting skills, how offended he should have felt because the student wrote his name so poorly—oh no, it was written correctly, but it appeared more like a torchic writing in human script with a pencil between its toes—or more importantly, under the skirt and wig hid a _male_. It was all very entertaining; the chances of crossing paths with one student out of entire class were slim, so there was no harm. Compared to the lesson on the board, _The Origin of Hoenn's Structure_, Ruby would rather play a childish love pursuit without a moment's hesitation.

_Anything _was better than having to open the textbook to 'Chapter One: Formation of the Region.'

* * *

"My reason? You were _trapped_ in caves. Ordinarily I would never have an objection to your hobby, but your 'passion' was becoming an unhealthy distraction. At my age, Steven, I believe my heart is far too weak to withstand any more surprises. I remember when you stepped inside my office several weeks after—no need to look so alarmed! I had no intention of saying his name—the _mishap_," Mr. Stone paused, a loud exhale through his nose shattered the choking silence. "As your father, your condition almost gave me a heart attack! You look like the living dead. To think you walked around without a single care of all the dust collecting on your exploration clothes from the cave's rubble. I must say, the bags under your eyes were frighteningly remarkable. If you were born any lighter, I would have surely passed out to see the veins fully exposed on your face. And your eating habits…the worst pain in the world is when your child refuses to eat! You were lucky enough not have ulcers form!"

"I regained my strength recently, have I not?" Steven added feebly.

Mr. Stone shot him a glare. Ruby's mudkip squeaked under the scrutinizing glare, nuzzling its face in Steven's arm.

_I wish I could be in your place instead_, Steven mused bitterly.

"I'll drop the matter. Your top priority is Ruby's safety, from here on there should no longer be any news on that child's life in peril. His very essence _speak_s sadness, why should he go through more?" Spinning in his revolving chair, Devon's president faced the wall. "Speaking of Ruby, I believe the dismissal bell will be ringing soon."

"Dismissal bell?"

Mr. Stone chuckled, "Trainer's School. I need to distract him without having the boy wander into danger without his pokémon. Now hurry off, but before you leave, pick the Devon machine parts from the receptionist. Deliver it to Captain Stern, will you?"

Zuzu was nearly shaking in excitement at the mentioning of its master's name, Steven laughed lightly and talked with the mudkip on the way out. He mouthed several words of gratitude to his father before closing the door behind him. Steven felt uncomfortable at the mass of workers welcoming him, smiling and cheery, or the remaining few trying to exchange a few words. Dismissing them all, but in a fine and polite manner, he felt at ease rambling his thoughts to the runny-nose mudkip in his arm whilst avoiding several slaps to his face from the large fin on the mudkip's head. The pulsing heat under his cheeks only grew brighter the minute he flung the school doors open, shuffling awkwardly pass the picket of bookbags and tossed notebooks discarded around the floor. Steven wanted to leave, certainly the bell should have rang when his father shooed him away from office, or probably Metagross finally obtained a very sadistic sense of humor by fooling him with a stern nod that the dismissal bell did in fact ring.

"Steven's back!" the children excitedly remarked.

The girls were quick to surround him first, one question asked after another. Steven whined in his head, even as a former champion he remain a popular figure in Rustboro. Without a mean-bone in his body he could only radiate a strained smile and ask—read: plead—the children to disperse. Oceanic blue eyes scanned the room, only a single group of five in the back kept their focus on their own chattering, but what caught his attention is a large set of scarlet eyes. Steven scanned the room, almost chuckling to mistake the girl perched on a desk for the decently mannered, peacefully reserved Ruby.

"Five hundred poké dollars to kiss him." said one of the five.

Ruby accepted the challenge with a confident smirk, "Hand it over first and you're on."

Steven did a double-take.

Maybe the girl had a slightly deeper voice, but it muddled his brain to no end. Ruby's voice was mellow when he was not enraged._ It would be easier if he was older and puberty already hit._

"Deal," the boy dropped the thin bills on the scarlet-eyed child's lap. Sneering, he pointed the other boy beside him. "Now do it, Ruby."

Ruby furrowed his brow, the boy was approaching slowly, his rather large lips visibly chapped, a cut healing on one end. Ruby directed his attention to anywhere else besides the boy, then his eyes widened considerably, the neutral frown twitching upright into a wide smile. Steven bit back his laughter, never has he seen Ruby so overjoyed to see anyone, almost like a growlithe wagging its tail after given the chance to see its trainer after a long day. He would ask later about the choice in uniform, but unconsciously he opened his arms wide the minute Ruby shot up from the desk and ran in his direction.

But his arms remained inviting as Ruby embraced his mudkip, cooing and nuzzling his face on the runny-nosed amphibian. Walking past Steven, Ruby laughed heartily as mudkip's blue forelegs clamped securely around his fingers. The scarlet-eyed child took an abrupt halt before trailing any further. Biting down on his bottom lip, Ruby closed his eyes shut, his heart felt light, and his stomach was performing somersaults. His ears were first to reddened, his cheeks warming rather quickly, and an inquisitive noise was formed by Zuzu's concern for its trainer had Ruby wearily laughing out his budding happiness.

The strain Ruby's heart underwent for Sapphire safety and Steven's safety from the notorious bunch that invaded the boat gave him a fright throughout the remainder of his day while he rode the wailmer back to land. If something happened to Sapphire, his soul would be purged further down to the path of complete self-resentment. As for Steven…

Ruby shook his head, thoroughly satisfied he was able to see Steven. His pride could never accept running into Steven's arm, albeit tempting he ran for Zuzu instead when realization struck him: his legs were leading him in Steven's direction.

"Your clothes."

Ruby sought the recognizable voice, the once "fluttering" feeling immediately sank at the dead-panned expression Sapphire wore. She was sitting on Steven's Metagross, the mentioned clothing offered in her hand, the frown on her face unmoving slightly intimidated the raven-haired child. She hopped off the tank-like pokémon, her steps in synchronization of the passing seconds of Rustboro's clock pillar; she took her stand a few inches away from Ruby's face.

Steven could have never chosen a better time to exit the school, exhausted from the trouble he went through this morning and the energy the children still had for him in the afternoon. He clamped his mouth shut immediately; he had almost called Ruby while the boy was talking with Sapphire. He took a few steps back—as much as he was tempted to eavesdrop—so everything in their conversation could remain inaudible, but he did resume watching whatever could unfold between the pair. Sapphire's expression screamed a confused soul, as if all her morals were proven a lie, and she hesitated when she lifted a few curls in the air, appearing nearly terrified what could possibly be exposed.

Steven folded his arms together, almost perplexed Ruby tore the wig off himself, arms outstretched as if to say, 'Yeah, this is the real me. What of it?' Steven failed to comprehend the shock Sapphire felt to gasp loudly, both of her hands swiftly brought to cup her mouth melodramatically—then again, he was facing Ruby's back—and she took several steps back, her head violently shaking as if she would not accept whatever the circumstance is. Her canine teeth bit down on her bottom lip, one hand fished a poké ball from her belt to call out her Tropius. Withoutstopping her, Ruby witnessed the leafy saurpod take flight in the sky.

Red eyes could only follow the light speck of brown in the air before the two vanished from sight.

Sympathetically Metagross inched closer, plucking the clothes Sapphire vented on the floor before her departure, nudging Ruby by the leg gently with its claws. Zuzu had long been watching the events on floor-level, its beady eyes lowering and the fin on its head limping sideways. It whimpered for its trainer's attention, but Ruby cast his eyes on metallic-look arachnid and thanked Metagross with a nod. Voice strained, Ruby weakly asked, "Uh, hey, mind if I-I…um…can I take a seat?"

Metagross closed its eyes, planting its body on the paved floor. Ruby fumbled to sit appropriately on top of Metagross, excessively apologizing with every shuffling movement.

_"His very essence speaks sadness, why should he go through more?"_

Steven walked forward; regaining his composure he quieted his Metagross and the mudkip's curious noises by quickly planting his finger on his lip. With a light smile he took a seat beside Ruby, respecting the small coordinator's privacy, Steven closed his eyes. The former champion wrapped one arm around Ruby's small frame and drew him close. Through the loud sobs, low hiccups, Steven waited patiently for Ruby to fall asleep.

_He has had a long day._

* * *

**A/N**: AT. LAST. IT IS DOOONE~ Don't despair this time, I actually have ideas brewing up. I wrote re-wrote this in one single shot, and for once I like a(this) chapter. It was gamble to fit this all in one, but _progression _is needed. Side notes - I totally did not know Peeko is a girl, I always forget that pokemon usually have genders. o,o & my brain is racking up some one-shots. I was playing with Ruby's role as a girl, because you just can't be a totally stick-in-the-mud and say, "Yo, hop off. I'm all guy under this skirt." It would be too boring and far too straight forward. And the uniforms are totally non-existent in the pokémon world, but this is why this fic is AU-ish ;D Don't mind Sapphire, the way I purposed her reaction will work well -insert evil cackle- And finally I tried to end it with something mildly warm and sweet enough. Oh Ruby, I love your basketball shorts and the leggings you wear underneath in the pokemon emerald. It makes you look adorable. x3

_(So, great news~! I got my Beta :D Bad news: she's MIA. At least she warned be about it before, so I could forgive her. If you're reading this, enable your messages! xO But since I can't contact her, this chapter might be littered with mistakes that I probably overlooked. I'm aware of it, so hopefully by the time she gets back on she would be ever-so-kind to fix those mistakes. If I found out there's way too many, I am so pulling this chapter back in a heartbeat.)_


	6. Two Makes A Pair

**A/N**: Speedy, speedy, speedy! I got a certain flow, but those never last long. v,v Thank goodness I have the Sapphire game, I…er…played ahead. BUT I WROTE DOWN WHATEVER A CHARACTER SAYS, the important ones, of course. It helped me remember a couple of things, and it seriously gave me some wonderful ideas~ I started gushing! I hope those chapters will excite you and much as it did to me, but those are for later. Until then, even though so much has happened to our little beau, I need the entrance of another certain character. Who is it? Read to find out~ ;D**  
Extra notes: **Music helps me write, I just follow the tune. So I found it pretty neat when I found something kinda relative. Although it's featured in the end of the lyrics, it feels awesome to use to contrast Steven with someone you all know about. So the lyrics in italics serve for Steven ;D It has a really wicked opening melody**. **As of the next chapter, you will notice there won't be a chapter number and lyrics: this is a two-parter here. Or at least intended, but I'll see when I start typing it up. After it, the chapter numbers and lyrics will definitely continue! :D**  
Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kay?

**

* * *

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**Chapter 6**

**︵**

"_I'll take you everywhere_  
I'll beg you, I'll save you  
_I'll make you everything_  
So let me be the one to clear your eyes  
_I am the one to tear down your disguise_"  
x./Gravity Kills - One\.x

* * *

Perhaps it was the nightmare that gave him a fright, or his former childhood friend purposely refusing to acknowledge his identity, or possibly because his original intent to sleep his troubles, yearning the distraction from his reality—

Wiping the beads of sweat with his sleeve, Ruby accepted the small amount of sleep his body was able to intake before deserting the bed. He flipped the light switch as he reached the bathroom, cringing at the bright illumination almost blinding his bleary vision for a brief moment, and then dragged his feet further to reach the sink. He dared not to inspect his perspiring disposition; he splashed cold water on his face, wiped his eyes clean, and immediately turned the faucet off. There he stood for several seconds, head hung low, and the clear fluid he splashed on his face ran down his cheekbones, to his chin, and finally meeting the floor in large blotches of splattered water. It was a form of daze, his mind at lost throughout the occurrences his days provided him, a moment to grasp the emotional struggle, slowly coping what the world throws and has in store. Ruby firmly shook his head, he reached for his beanie, slipped on the slippers, and despite wearing the pajamas the company offers—a faint smile graced his lips, how could he ever doubt the Corporation's capabilities access to living space?—he had no such energy but to head outside with the offered, if not slightly dampened with sweat, sleepwear.

The anxiety was overwhelming; the land of sleep provided no escape from his harsh realism, resulting on the alternative to walk his troubles off. Depending on the distance his concentration would be so heavily consumed on direction rather than pestering thoughts. If his mind was completely unsettled, a walk would provide resolutions through a slow process. Scarlet eyes flickered to the electronic clock, eyes moodily narrowed. _Is it really midnight?_ Lolling his head with disinterest, he refocused his attention at the lightly-lit hallways, cautious with his steps he would not knock any expensive table or vase concealed by the thick darkness, or by far worse someone would awaken. Although Hoenn was essentially safe for travelers, Ruby felt the precautionary steps were crucial if he stumbled across nocturnal pokémon. Ruby took an abrupt halt in the hallway, his mind blank, his eyes clenching tight, his sigh rolling with strong annoyance. Earlier when he fell asleep in Steven's sympathetic hold outside of the corporation, Steven awoke the raven-haired child to take a quick shower before heading to bed. The child's consciousness was drifting away, preventing him to voice his refusal against Steven carrying his possessions away with him.

Ruby planted his hand on the wall, the further he strode into the hallway the less the moonlight projected into the hall by the two mere windows. He then accepted to trace along the wall until his hand felt smooth oak: a door possibly, if there were any besides his own. His heart hammered in his throat, his fingers tracing through the carved features, his curiosity irked him to discover the contents of the assumed door. _I'll be damned if it's a storage closet_, he mused bitterly. Gathering his remaining courage, he slid both hands around the door in search of a handle or knob; the gelid metal piece caused a shiver to run down his spine. Biting down on his tongue, Ruby twisted the doorknob with extreme care, relieved the door did not create any rickety sounds with his precise, careful movements. With a gap in the door, Ruby leaned forward, inspecting the room through the dim moonlight.

Ruby stepped inside, eyes flickering in different angles for his bag. His heart instantly raced, a speck of blue hair visible as the clouds concealing a portion of the moon drifted away. Taking his first wary steps forward, Ruby's blood ran cold as felt he stepped on something thick, hard, and _rock-like in texture?_

A set of larger eyes analyzed the boy's movement, its expression read, 'What are you doing?'

_Oh. Well, hi there, Metagross._

Ruby clapped his hands together, placed a finger to his lips, and finally pointed to his spotted bag dangling on the hook several inches above Steven's head. In all he said without words: 'Please don't say anything! Just be quiet about this! I just want to get my pokémon, no questions.'

Ruby crept forward; on his tip-toes he struggled to reach the bag without falling forward on a snoozing Steven Stone, his thoughts running and his unwavering paranoia to Metagross' rapid acceptance on behalf of his actions. He cheered in his head as his fingers held the strap that was once hanging on the hook, successfully accomplishing this he attempted to use the edge of Steven's bed to pull his body back into stance, but the weight of his bag led his body to fall forward. He thought, _Maybe Steven will wake up from shock and be furious by the time I tell him my plans_, but when he dared to open his eyes he was hanging a few inches from Steven's face. He grinned brightly at Metagross' sense of consideration; the claws at the end of its legs firmly grasping the collar of his pajamas. However, even beyond its thoughtfulness the metal arachnid-like pokémon tossed the boy carelessly on the floor. The sound did not create a loud _thump!_ to stir Steven, although Ruby did curse silently.

_You softy, I bet you were willing to care so I wouldn't wake him up._

With a shrug, Ruby held his bag close to his chest, without a moment's hesitation he skittered out the room. However, Metagross watch the child leave, its large red eyes returning it focus to the former champion. Metagross felt a shred of sympathy of the aftermath of Sapphire's encounter, though its trainer will not do well if he were to wake up in the next few hours to inspect Ruby's condition to only realize the boy's presence was currently absent. If anything, considering Metagross ordinarily slept in and out of its poké ball, Steven would desperately search the answers out of the metal-tank pokémon before frantically running around in the corporation for another's feedback.

It was Metagross' turn to sigh.

* * *

Rustboro had an equal amount of rustic elegance in both day and night. His mind already wandered, recognizing the most diminutive pieces of information regarding the scenery, and it was absolutely breath-taking. There were two paths open: he choose the path that lead him to the beach as opposed to battling circumstances with the nocturnal pokémon on route 116, his then threw his slippers in one direction to the feel the grainy sand between his toes. The brisk winds chilled the sand, rustled tree branches and shrubs, and despite the ambient noises from nightly pokémon, Ruby planted himself a seat near the light, rolling waves. His finger drew around the wet sand, a doodle with no significant features until an idea sprang – he began to sketch a large heart. Hugging his knees close to his chest, Ruby buried his face in his arms, his conscious slipping away from his heavenly state of peace.

It felt nice, it seemed like nothing in the world would disturbed the sensation of complete bliss, he even admired the moonlit view of the night sky dyed in deepest purple-blue coloring. He threw his body back, legs and arms outspread in the sand despite the risk of sandy clothes—he had no mind to care. It also felt pleasant to feel a perpetual unawareness of all the troublesome situations he has experienced the past days, from his twisted ankle, to his father's appearance in television. The mere notion of being left in Petalburg made him mentally anguish. If Norman, for whatever reason, decided to take a stroll to the beach and find his missing son…Ruby would only stare at him like a wurmple spotted by a swellow: his mind not grasping the situation, but realization sure to strike any form of escape would be futile because of the combination of power, and surprisingly, speed of Norman's slacking.

The distance between Rustboro and Petalburg is a decent few miles apart, keeping the child's heart at ease. As long as he would no longer be plagued with danger, or emotional anguish, he could see peaceful days ahead of him. He reopened his eyes, his light smile fading and his heart hammering in his throat as a dark figure had its face near his. Ruby launched forward, accidentally knocking his head with the figure, though quick enough to scramble away to regain his breath. Both groaned at the lingering pain on their foreheads. Ruby blanked completely on the individual in front of him: the light post flickered on—it was deemed broken, but miraculously turned on—exposing a head of green hair, along with bright, childish emerald eyes.

"Wally? Is that really you?" he asked, unconsciously rubbing the sore on his head.

"Y-Yeah. Uh, hi." Wally replied flatly.

Ruby folded his legs, his smile expressing neither sadness nor happiness, he pat the sand beside him, hinting Wally to be seated. It felt too long since he has seen his friend, thankfully with no hostility in the mix, even under the starry sky he would be willing leave any unimportant questions for later—he was in need of a friendly companionship. Wally nodded; he seated himself and leaned back, his elbows supporting his weight as he comfortably situated himself on the spot. The two continued their reunion in silence, both sharing a smile, eyes focused on the twinkling stars, the thick clouds, and the bright illumination of the moonlight. Rather quick they exchanged glances, as the thought registered in their heads they were staring at one another their eyes swiftly shifted elsewhere. The tension lasted longer than anticipated, eventually the two boys burst out laughing, a wholehearted laugh that overjoyed Ruby.

Wally's laughter gradually died down. With a content smile he asked, "How is everything?"

Ruby rolled his eyes. "Where do I start?" Then realization struck him, an inwardly fear rising. "Have you recently seen the television broadcast?"

Wally shook his head. Oh how the weight was lifted off his shoulders!

Through a nervous scratch of the head, Ruby continued, "I sorta, kinda…ran away from home. And my dad is, well…looking for me. When I saw the television broadcast, he seemed angrier than usual. Then again, why wouldn't he when his _disgusting, _rebellious son totally deserts the family without a word? Bittersweet tale, no?"

Crestfallen, Wally hung his head in shame. "It's my fault, if I visited less often and never asked…"

Ruby waved his hands frantically; his headshake following the pace. "N-No, you didn't do anything wrong. It was going to come out eventually, might as well settle it while I'm still a kid than eighteen, right? An-Anyway, what are you doing out at this hour? You still look sick, you shouldn't be outside."

Wally hummed in amusement, "What are_ you_ doing out at this hour?" To avoid an angry whine from his friend, the green-haired child fixed his eyes on the cavern opening a few yards from his current position. "I come here to think, Verdanturf is a tunnel away from Rustboro's beach. My uncle is trying his best to provide me a gentle environment for my health. Sure I'm still the 'weak and frail Wally' since birth, but I have come a long way!"

Ruby flashed a smile, "Yeah, but doesn't mean _I _approve. Take Ruru with you, she'll teleport you back to Verdanturf." Fishing out a poké ball from his bag, he called out a rather sleepy kirlia, her large eyes boring holes at the two children calling her at midnight. The warmth she could feel from her trainer made her beam, she disregarded her fowl behavior abruptly being called and remained standing, waiting for further orders. Ruby modestly blushed, delighted Wally voicing sounds of awe at his pokémon he trained from the very beginning, evidently his pride placed in his pokémon to represent him in upcoming contests.

"Why don't you come with me?" Wally pleaded, his hand slid further in the grainy sand to brush against Ruby's fingers.

Ruby shied away, eyes fixed on the shadow of the Corporation building looming over the smaller of buildings in the stark nightlight, and without an answer he shook his head. He could not face his cherished friend without feeling the guilt eating his rational judgment. He tried to distract his thoughts away beyond Wally's tempting advances, it would, however, ease his mind he could also support Wally throughout his recovery. The scarlet-hued child was unfamiliar with Wally's family: where they aware of the situation with Norman? Would they house him regardless of Norman's search for him?

Ruby's eyes widened. _How could I forget about Steven?_

Steven Stone offered the greatest kindest Ruby ever received, he was his own fine gentleman in his refined manners with people. How some of his pokémon's personality matched the former champion of Hoenn was indeed the most bizarre wonderment. Steven kept his word throughout the voyage and beyond, Norman remained clueless of Ruby's location, all in exchange for cheers and smiles throughout the remainder of their "journey." He was able to laugh again—even bitterly because of Claydol's eccentric behavior scared him out of his wits end—he was able feel his heart lively again after the empty cavity his father left him.

Steven never pried into his life; if there was any curiosity he respected the child's space, especially with his beanie. Ruby flushed, the excessive thoughts revolving on the former champion reddening his tamato-berry tinted cheeks, a part of him surprised he took the time to reflect the enjoyable happiness he felt with Steven—like he could be his own person, almost alike to his current connection with Wally. Consumed by his own thoughts, Ruby failed to register Wally pushing him down on the sand, hands entwined with one another…

* * *

"You are awful. I rather have a panic attack chasing Ruby in this building than chasing him outside in the middle of the night! Why, oh why, _why _did you leave me sleeping?"

Metagross wished it was born with hands to do a yapping motion. It rolled its eyes, levitating freely around Rustboro. '_I'm awful? You are a terrible deep-sleeper. You were swatting me away, ignoring my cries, and threatening to send me back to my poké ball! Dearest Steven, you enlighten me why I had to give up.' _

Steven's eyes lowered, "I really don't like when you give me 'you-are-an-imbecile' look. It is very impolite."

Metagross snorted in its species' dialect. '_Impolite! I could give plenty reasons to your thoughts on my 'look,' but I digress. Where is that child?'_

"And another thing!" He ignored the groan the metallic-arachnid tried to suppress, "Why did you let him leave? You could have stopped him, I'm sure your growl could startle anyone in their tracks, no, better yet…your eyes! They make you feel inferior or trembling in fear." Steven crinkled his fingers to prove the ominous might of his pokémon, to which Metagross could only sulk that Steven was losing his sanity each passing day.

Metagross carefully examined the path to route 116, calculating the possibilities the boy would have wandered somewhere in the surrounding area but reasoned a walk through the beach would be enough to have Ruby clear his thoughts. Steven grew silent as there was nothing left to rant over his pokémon's behavior, so throughout the remainder of the time he let his eyes rest shut, his conscious single-handedly overpowering the small amount of energy to remain awake. Before slipping away completely into his own slumberland, his eyes lazily opened when the Metagross made an abrupt halt, surprised and completely alert as the pokémon desperately scrambled backwards.

Rubbing his eyes with his wrist, Steven glanced at the sight Metagross apparently did not want him to witness—

He understood completely.

Metagross disappointingly cast its eyes to the paved floor, avoiding its trainer expression. '_I'm sorry, Steven, I was hoping it would not trigger a memory of _him_.'_

Steven despised this area of Rustboro with a burning passion; he detested it so much he avoided ever circling the very area in high altitudes with Skarmory. Upon unexplainable impulse, he glared harshly at the lip-lock shared between the green haired child and Ruby, his own control completely at loss as he jumped off Metagross. His body acted on its, leading him to the spot where the pair resided.

* * *

Ruru squeaked, its body shuddering at the sensation of anger heavily approaching, slightly taken aback the figure was the former champion of Hoenn. Ruru worriedly looped her arm around Wally, teleporting almost instantly out of sight, leaving Ruby dumfounded but relieved. His mind was screaming to push Wally off, but he lacked the courage to overcome the hurt in Wally's expression, and simply talking it out will definitely not suffice someone like Wally. It felt so long since he was able to kiss someone—though this situation was definitely not his decision—and despite the tender lips pressed on his own, Wally's fumbling nervousness nearly making Ruby giggle…

_It just didn't feel right._

Ruby dusted off the sand from his pajamas, he wiggled his leg for the rest of the sand to slide off the folds of the fabric, and he then inspected his appearance by the reflection of the water. Decently enough in appearance—deep in the cornerstones of his mind, he hoped Wally did not smell the odor of sweat from his pajamas—he abruptly stopped, making out the odd ripple forming in the water. Did someone just throw a pebble? Craning his neck, his steady heart rate increased, he squawked under Steven's intensive stare, an approaching Metagross only making his heart plummet further. This would be a first Ruby has witnessed a dark scowl etched on Steven's charming features, it made him shrink because of his lack of experience to deal with angry Steven Stone.

Steven raised his hand the minute Ruby opened his mouth, "_Don't_. I was worried that something could have happen to you—I said not a word, Ruby—and I find you here, at the beach, _relaxed._ Rest assured, I am not going to interfere with that whatever engagements you have, just do not let it become a habit."

Steven was first to walk ahead, relying on his hearing to guarantee Ruby was following, but he heard no footsteps. He turned around, his frown still in place, readily prepared to respond to the child's retorts. What he was not prepared for is the sight of Ruby's tears: he learned Ruby would only cry if he was truly hurt, as if someone was piercing his heart in two, and that worried him. Steven was simply expressing his concern through another method, although it seemed the approach was rather unsuccessful. He would never openly admit the reason for his bitter attitude; it was his own private concerns…

Ruby mockingly laughed, "You're making it sound like…like I'm whoring myself around! You-You! Leave me alone, I'm going to my room." he sniffed, keeping a brave face as he finished.

Roughly pushing aside Steven, Ruby slipped on the discarded slippers, making his way to the Corporation building.

Steven and Metagross exchanged looks.

Metagross, through the changes in its solid features, seemingly read: 'Roughly expressed, but he made a proper assumption based on your inane comment.'

Steven groaned, "This is pathetic. Only one day has passed since he almost drowned, lost his friend, and I just added more to his troubles! If I were in his shoes, I don't think I could take this all at once."

Metagross nodded. _'You took your own situation piece by piece, consider yourself lucky.'_

* * *

Mr. Stone was most displeased.

Only a few hours in marked a brand new day, the clichéd theme of the birth of something grand, a new beginning, _not _his brooding son confined within his room and his regressive tendencies of drowning himself with research when his mood took a turn for the worst. And Norman's son carried out the next few hours sitting in the lobby; Mr. Stone was terrified how speechless and lifeless Ruby appeared right before his eyes. If the child did not breathe, he would look like a decently sized porcelain doll, just an empty shell of his former neutral-self: both were quite a handful for one president to handle alone. He thought their mood would only last a day, not the longest four days of his life. They ate in their prospective rooms, within the four days they completely avoided crossing paths. It was childish; his son was degrading his name by carrying out such foolish mannerism. _Then again_, he reasoned, _Steven is capable of acting like a fine chap, but he was never accustomed handling the rare ones that would be angered at him; it is unheard of!_

He called in one of his workers, ordering them to switch the knob on his door, allowing an individual to lock it from the outside. He planned it carefully with his workers, their laughter clipped when they realized how gravely serious Mr. Stone was with his created scenarios. He peered at the clock on the pokénav, a smile reaching his lips, eagerly waiting for the clock hand to reach six in the afternoon on the dot. It was brilliant; the two would have no other choice but to reunite against their will. Mr. Stone was fully prepared to wait as long as needed be for the two to rekindle so they could scamper off to Slateport.

_And far away from this building._

He cleared his throat, testing the rhythm of his voice to successfully play his role. Mr. Stone trudged to the end of the room, taking a step aside from the placement the door would slam against the wall when the two would storm in on cue. Reaching the pokénav, Mr. Stone searched for his son's number.

_"Yes?" _

"St-Steven, it…it is getting dark. I-I feel weak, m-my bo-" he dropped the pokénav for a dramatic touch, snickering as he could hear his son's raised, panicked voice from the speaker. When the call clicked, speedily Mr. Stone flicked the switch to the intercom leading to Ruby's room.

"Mr. Stone? Something u-"

"Ruby! These hooligans, Team Aqua, have broken into my office! Help me, child! Please come as soon—ah, no! Don't come any closer!"

And he pressed the switch down, shutting the intercom off. He could hear the violent footsteps, with his hands behind his back he could only wait with anticipation for the pair to storm in. Promptly as he planned the two panting males entered the room.

"Mr. Stone!"

"Father!"

Mr. Stone crept out of the room inconspicuously; he waved the two goodbyes and slammed the door, locking it almost immediately upon closing. The two were audible from the confusion in the tone of their voice, one of them curiously tried to open the door to announce "It's locked!" loudly.

"I have had enough of these juvenile shenanigans! Make-up or however the phrase is described in today's trend. I'll be back in two hours, good day." said Mr. Stone curtly.

Ruby groaned in frustration, he took a seat on the couch and definitely appeared in no mood to talk matters through. Steven took a seat on the opposite end, his mind musing bitterly. _Two hours with someone that despises my very essence at this point…spiffy.

* * *

_

**A/N**: ARCEUS. What a day, finishing finals and all that jazz. This is my birthday gift to you! And yes, I dined like a giggly fatass on the cake. As much as I wanted to put more into this chapter, I couldn't, it's like it wouldn't fit. So until the next chapter! I'll get back to the other mistakes, I wanted to update ASAP while my mood was still on and because there is a high chance of a power outage for awhile due to the excessive amount of snow and ice forming. Ah, global warming has its wonders.

**_OH WAIT_**. I got a Forumspring thingy weeks ago, BUT I TOTALLY FORGOT IT AFTER SEVERAL DAYS. So if you guys ever have the urge to comment, have any questions, or whatever else, the link is on my profile. Just click the homepage hyperlink. :D Don't be shy; I need to kill some time desperately this week.

**_AND LASTLY, I SWEAR._** I need opinions! I'm in the mood to make a one-shot, which is a good sign to show I'm not completely dead, and it's almost like a song-fic but not entirely! What I'm not sure if you want the same amount of snobbish Steven like _Hey Superstar_ (Arceus, probably no other piece of mine could compare!) He was mean, but I tried to give him a more realistic touch, even if meant so much sadness on Ruby's part. Which is why I decided I would make the two haughty. And I found the perfect song for the two~ Thoughts? Yes? No?  
Eff, this is a scary long author's note. But I'm done, no worries. 8D


	7. Two days Proving worth

**A/N**: I want my summer vacation from school to come already. I want more pokémon BW chapters out, DAMMIT I WANNA MAKE MY FANFIC. But I'll be patient, I really wanna get the characters down as much as I possibly could. The ending got me upset, I was tempted to go on Zekrom and go with N wherever the hell he was planning to go. At least on the bright side, that fanfic will be planned out because I have a document stored with an outline what I'm purposing to do. And notes…5 pages worth of freakin notes. Although, as much as I have planned on the outline, the plot (or how this is gonna happen) has brought my mind to a clusterf-ck of empty resolutions. FML. But I hope you will take the time to read when it's out! Till then, I'll focus back on NU. :)  
**Extra notes**: I feel like I'm drifting far away from the emotional appeal of this story, it's suppose to have a delicate tone, or at least something that matches more to the hurt/comfort genre. Not an outlandish straight-forward blunt and empty feel, so time to retouch. Since this is so long (in my eyes) please try to overlook the mistakes. I tried.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. Kays?

* * *

Ruby plucked a tissue from its box on the laminated round table beside the couch; with a mild interest he took it upon himself to clear the running viscous mucus dripping from the small mudkip's nostrils. The small blue creature absently watched the small fingers continuously wiping away the slippery secretion, weary its trainer had suddenly turned nurturing rather than sulking of the evident black sheep in his perfectly formed beauty pokémon party. Mudkip paid no heed to the latter; the blue pokémon merely closed its beady ebony eyes to the heavenly, therapeutic scratching on its neck, its four legs relaxing on Ruby's lap. His lip twitched upward, admiring the mere fact how perfectly emotionally in-tune his pokémon must be with one another – unlike him, pampering the pokémon that completely destroyed his party's beautiful image, he gradually accepted mudkip as part of the image only _if_ the mucus level could be surely controlled. He was guilty on his account, the least pokémon he would consider on his lap distracting the twinge of regret.

Ruru had always been by his side, predominately neutral throughout practices for contest in contrast to the other flaunty pair Ruby had with him. It felt strange having one of his own without him, as if he lost something, but the thought had him silently chuckling. As if everything was not already in disarray.

His wonderful Sapphire, his childhood best friend, the lovely little girl with an innocence as pure as the whitest snow and as delicate but beautiful like snowflakes: she was such a gem, and Ruby cherished her throughout those peaceful years. There was an everlasting guilt he could do nothing to preserve the innocent Sapphire, the little girl unaware to the sickly fascination people have through battles, the sensation experienced of the thrill battling, and capable of getting severely injured during battling. Wally reassured him, the only being he has ever poured his past to, and yet he could not willingly accept "It wasn't your fault." A change in the field of pokémon had him changed: coordinators could not possibly display the brutality pokémon battles exposed. Everything was for her—his personality, his hobbies, everything had to be changed.

Contrary to his father's intentions—being the best trainer, or in fact, being a trainer at all—Ruby realized throughout the months he had a miniscule form of desire to feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins in the heat of a battle. Wally opened his eyes to that perspective, for that Ruby remained eternally grateful. He had a resolution in his mind after the reality check in Rustboro's central square a few seconds after Sapphire flew the skies on her tropius, and it took every amount of self-restraint to express he would change all over again if he needed to. She disliked battles, alright, now she wants battles…

_Then a battle she's gonna get._

He will focus on contest ribbons to prove his father wrong—hopefully not directly. Norman's rage is infamous—his other plan will be a worthy sign for Sapphire. It would be perfect for the confined anger the pair held towards him, surely it should lessen the tension. Wally was the missing link. Ruby shooed away his other friend from his mind, attempting to keep his priorities in check before his mind could brood another situation. Feeling energized to test his plans, his mood deflated entirely as his bright scarlet eyes remained fixed on the accursed door. The door that would not open in two hours, and Arceus' knows if the Mr. Stone could possibly wander cities over for an extended period of time, if not possibly talk to every Rustboro dweller being the jolly man he is. Pressing his fingers in his eyes, he whined Ruru's absence.

_I could have teleported out of this office!_

Ruby stole a glance at Steven, heavily tempted to smirk again as a form of revenge. The blunette paid no heed to his seating posture, lazily slouched on the leather rolling chair, arm propped and hand supporting his chin whilst viewing the brightly lit laptop screen reflected on his kelpsy berry blue eyes_. _The boy scowled, he could not access anything in the room to personally tamper with, mainly Mr. Stone's conveniently deserted laptop Steven spent using for the longest minutes of his life. Ruby needed a radio, or a television, or the latest pokémon magazine, or _anything_ to distract his two-hour office prison. Mudkip jumped off his lap, trotting towards Steven and nipping on the hem of the black pants. It took a few seconds for the blunette to take notice of the mudkip, and with a warm inviting smile Steven scooped the blue creature, its black beady eyes sternly concentrated on the laptop screen.

Ruby huffed. _Tch, Traitor._

Another few minutes rolled by. Ruby's daydreaming cut short at the sound of loud cluttering noises. Knitting his brows together at the noise, he almost opened his mouth to sharply ask the perpetrator, namely Steven, to cut the noise to a minimum. Turning around swiftly from his post, and firming his voice, he opened his mouth-

and shut it instantly.

Zuzu was propped on all fours, communicating with the man in its mudkip-form of speech, and Steven was paying as much attention and modestly laughing along.

Because they were both wearing groucho glasses: the ridiculously large nose, fuzzy mustache, and large eyebrows. Ruby's two hands flew to his mouth; it took every cell in his body not to burst out laughing. The mudkip looked extremely silly in funny glasses, but Steven's natural handsome appearance entirely ruined by his sheepish smile with the glasses. The man was ignorant being watched, muttering on about, "Funny my father should have these, he always put these on when I-"

And Ruby could no longer contain his amusement, startling the other entertained pair by surprise by the whole-hearted laugh. Steven eyebrows rose—if not concealed by the bushy eyebrows the groucho glasses are included with—although it relieved his heart that he manage to break the heavy atmosphere to such an extent. It was far better hearing Ruby laugh than the bitter mock laugh from the previous night; in fact, Steven adored the sound of the small coordinator's laugh.

_It's very cute…err, pleasing, _Steven's mind corrected.

The minute Ruby's laughter died down, Steven took the opportunity to set the glasses down. His expression serious, tone slow, steady, calm, and gentle in approach.

"I'm sorry," the former champion confessed.

Ruby was deadpanned; his mind went entirely blank at the moment. He could feel a tightening rage dwelling inside, and yet he compromised avoiding a juvenile display of raging tantrum for his sake and Steven's. Ruby closed his eyes, a voice inside screaming to accept Steven's apology, to remain forgetful of the argument, of the situation, of the strange behavior Steven displayed yesterday. Even without opening his eyes, Ruby had a gut feeling his mudkip was hoping Ruby would also accept the apology, its worry evident in its beady black eyes, Underneath the neutral composure, the child was slowly figuring the notion of apologies:

"No, no you're not."

Many were fake. Many were forms of escape. Many were cover-ups.

And many _were the most useless things that could be spat out of someone's mouth._

"If you're sorry, why did you do it?"

Steven smiled dumbly, blinked absently, clearly lost in reasoning. "Um, excuse me?"

Ruby's focus drifted towards the window. "You heard me."

"I…I don't know," he lied.

"Why apologize then?" Ruby lolled his head with a look of a combination of disinterest and irritation, "Save it when you mean it."

* * *

Mr. Stone was less than satisfied.

He felt faintly reassured the pair were willing to be on talking terms, an apparent uneasy tension separated them far too much for his liking. During the morning the two blatantly tried to avoid each other throughout their encounters in the hallway, the lobby, and around the employees—nevertheless the improvement to such a point served a personal victory for Mr. Stone. Sighing was everything he could muster for the time-being, seeing such a progression marked a limit to his meddling. Thus, he relaxed his weakened muscles on the revolving chair, concluding they would have to rekindle the possible friendship they had with one another themselves – and it irked Mr. Stone, he deeply hoped the two forced hours could have Ruby and Steven back on their toes.

Seeing as that was impossible, the corporate president heaved another heavy sigh before stalking towards to the window. With a bored expression, Mr. Stone surveyed the peaceful, quiet life in Rustboro. Despite the height of corporate building, Mr. Stone could clearly see the little amount of pedestrians occupying Rustboro's empty streets. A speck of noticeable white caused him to do a double-take, gripping the window frame he leaned forward. Blinking a few times, he bore in mind he was positive the speck was Ruby seemingly eyeing his surroundings, his shoulders dropped in relief before bolting straight into the Rustboro's gym. A guilty curiosity sparked in Mr. Stone, as he recalled the youth was quite serious on the path to being a top coordinator, the word "battle" use to roll from Ruby's tongue almost like acid.

Ruby was willing to trade off information, proving his desire to be a coordinator: rebelling against his father, Mr. Stone was already aware of.

_Then why is he heading inside the gym?_

Mr. Stone waited by the window for the next twenty minutes, slowly, but surely growing uninterested. Gazing once again at the gym doors, he was briefly blinded by a bright shine created by something metal in origin. The light reflected near Ruby, probably holding a reflective item.

Gym. Metal.

A gym badge.

"My word, he did it." Mr. Stone said, quite proud the small boy possessed the capabilities of having a battle spirit lounged somewhere beside his coordinating spirit.

It took no longer than a few minutes for Mr. Stone to reach the lobby, smiling at the sight of Ruby neutrally entering the building. Scarlet eyes widened, politely he approached Mr. Stone. But unlike many other occasions, Mr. Stone cut Ruby's greeting short.

"Even without watching, I bet the battle was phenomenal experience for Roxanne and yourself. Congratulations on your gym badge. You know, you should not expose a badge in bright sunlight, the shine almost blinded me."

"Can't hide anything from you, Mr. Stone, can I?" Ruby said with a playful tone of amusement, "You caught me. Please don't say anything about it. Being that you already know," he turned on his heel, heading for the exit, "I'll be back in two days."

And Mr. Stone had no intention of stopping Ruby either. So headstrong, so determined; he could not crush that energy even if he tried. Folding his hands behind his back, Mr. Stone gingerly waited for the arrival of the elevator. The chime rang and the metallic doors pried open.

Releasing a gruff chortle, Mr. Stone entered the elevator with a mischievous smile. _My poor son._

* * *

Based on the moment Briney decided he would contain his curiosity on the child's single departure, along with Ruby's reasoning to return to Defword. There was a smug grin on the elderly man's feature, although the earlier mishaps by Team Aqua's attack on the boat had Ruby paid no heed to the alarming danger returning to unfriendly tides. The sense of spirit, a new spirit he saw in the energized scarlet eyes were enough for him to set sail again. The low shifting tides gave the ride a more peaceful atmosphere; no storm clouds could be seen from the beautiful and vast coast. Setting the boat on auto-pilot until the next curve to arrive to Dewford, Briney immerged from the steering courters and to the deck.

No other ships, boats, or hooligans could be traced. Just the inviting sun and the cheers of swimmers battling amongst other swimmers, the chatty cawing of the water-flying pokémon drifting in the sky, their shadow hovering on his boat. He closed his eyes, at peace with the inner momentum of his sailing spirit—

"No, don't start evolving yet! Hold on! Camera, _camera_! I know I put in here somewhere."

With a content laugh, Briney approached the uproar. He was not surprised in the slightest Ruby was fretting over a camera, but the mudkip was undoubtedly evolving right before his eyes.

Ruby ignored the gale of laughter coming from the elderly captain, frantically rummaging through his bag for the camera hidden somewhere underneath his other possessions. "You may not be the prettiest, but you're worth taking pictures!" He merrily commented, tossing several items messily on the deck. With succession he fished out his camera, snapping as many shots as he could from the different angles of Zuzu's evolution. The bright light of the evolutionary phase surrounding the blue creature quickly died out, exposing its second form in its evolution line. Snapping one last shot, Ruby retreated to a corner, mumbling something along the lines of "Gotta arrange these photos."

There was a dark grimace on the youth's face the minute he faced his marshtomp, with a gentle sigh Ruby drew out a tissue from his pocket and proceeded to wipe away the dripping mucus from the small nostrils. "You never change," Ruby told the pokémon, not with scorn but a light tone of disbelief.

Briney faintly smiled, _Strange boy._

Safely arriving to the small town, Ruby thanked Briney again before skittering away to the pokémon center. He needed to reserve his room, and preferably use the bathroom after being surrounded body of water for more than half an hour. The old newscast flashed in his head, bringing a sense of small paranoia around the many watchful eyes in the room. Tugging down the beanie, Ruby made a bee-line around the trainers to the front desk, inwardly cursing at the lengthy line the trainers created with their injured pokémon at hand. Tapping his foot impatiently, Ruby scanned the room. Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted the telephone_, _along with the wide screen for easier communication.

A sense of dread filled his head: he would be _so dead _if Steven phoned Deword's pokémon center, worst of all, Ruby could not simply turn the screen off while talking to him, it would server both lines of the communication. So he chanted in line for the few days he would stay in Dewford. _Please let everything so smoothly._ Fate had it in for him, every single day of his life everything was looking up and down; there would be an entity, a form of plights that would make the world feel all _crummy. _In the midst on other pointless concentration, Nurse Joy called for him several times before his snapped out of his thoughts.

"Have you been here before?" She asked curiously before fetching the key.

"I can't get enough of this place…?" He added feebly, hoping she would buy it. She did not seem perturbed by the statement, if anything she shrugged, her beaming trademark smile wishing him a good stay.

By coincidence Ruby happened to receive the same key to the room he occupied previously. Tossing his bag on the bed, he rummaged through the pockets for his pokénav. The object in hand was such a useful tool for navigation; nevertheless it could also be an access key for Steven. Pressing through several functions to turn of the gizmo off, Ruby stuffed the object back inside, his limbs spread haphazardly on the bed. With nothing to do except momentarily gaze at the ceiling, the loud ticking resonating in the room from the newly installed wall clock, and the loud screams of children playing on the sandy land. The hours flew by before the city was stark black outside, alarming Ruby he had slept through an entire day.

He had felt exhausted, mentally and emotionally, without realizing he had been stressing his body to the point of much needed sleep. He had deprived his day when he sought out the nightly mysteries of Rustboro—fine, he was _a tad_ bit bored—and throughout the remainder he had to avoid the man he looked up to. And oddly, he admit, made his whole self feel nervous around the former champion – he had an idea what he was undergoing through the strange tumble of emotions, but he shook his head violently to shake the idea out of his head. Determined, a realist, by no means a compulsive dreamer. Age gap, he always reminded himself, no man Steven's age could love someone Ruby's age.

It was unheard of.

Slightly peeved from all the spurning negativity, Ruby rolled over on the bed, lazily reaching the switch to the radio. Many stations were formed by static; other stations had the sickly rap songs he absolutely despised.

"-no trace of Norman's son."

Whoa. _What?_

"He still refuses any help from the police, Petalburg citizens say. It seems Norman surely wants to find his boy on his own. Hard logic, but that is-"

He shut the radio off.

_My first day and it already sucks._

* * *

With a righteous determination he rose from his bed, his pokémon stirred in the corner of the room, fighting off sleep and curiosity on their trainer's behalf. Zuzu was the first to wake the mightyena and delcatty from their drowsiness with a spat of water gun, readily alert they followed Ruby as he dead-bolted the door behind him. Their paced steps cautiously avoiding the rickety hardwood floorboards from disturbing the sleeping lodgers, in the distance he could hear the pulses of the machine in the backroom giving full-day scans on the tired, sickly pokémon. Their state could have anyone sympathize, especially when Ruby's mind could instantly conjure the very person the sick pokémon reminded him of. But no, not today, he set his mind on one single priority today.

It tore him apart seeing everything he worked up for, something he was once so passionate about rotting away, battling becoming a definite barbaric approach. Ruby would spent hours cutting, sewing, creating—for contest and solely contest. Nana charged Coco with takedown, to which the feline pokémon back stepped and dodged. With a breathless pant, Coco unleashed iron tail on marshtomp. The amphibian pokémon braced itself for contact, still standing, expression stern and entirely focused. Whilst the two other pokémon charged, marshtomp raised its fin-like appendages, patiently timing its move.

Ruby pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, analyzing the speed each attack took in preparation for the gym battle. Bracing himself with fingers coiled around the gritty mineral particles, feet planted firmly—

Nana and Coco were stumbling in their tracks, unsure how to withstand the ground trembling beneath their paws. The pokémon growled, trying to jump and skitter away from the earthquake move.

"Stop," Ruby stood up, and as commanded the attention of his pokémon were drawn back to him.

"Great job, all of you." He praised them honestly. Ruby's pokémon held out their minor injury, growling through the pain of the stinging potion sprayed on their wounds. Every fiber of his soul told him not to unleash a hairbrush at the sight of small grits of sand on their well-shined, lovely-smelling fur.

Placing the glasses back inside his bag, he turned his heel, facing the direction of the large gym in plain sight from his position. Sparing a glance at his pokémon, looking equally determined to win, human and trainer strode their way on their way to a certain victory. Although, the scarlet-eyed child could not shake off a paranoid feeling of a set of hostile eyes watching him as if he was a form of prey. Throughout the practice battle a presence only seemed more believable by the small indent near the cave. It was the sight of red dot from distance, that much he could determine from his terrible eyesight, but nothing more could be recognizable.

His pokémon seemed at ease, unaware of an ominous presence around. Ruby frowned, cursing once again at the thought of his kirlia in Wally's bearing. If he had his physic pokémon, given its type, he could have Brawly beaten without missing a beat as well. Ruru could have detected the presence, easing the minor paranoia. Shrugging it off as another sensation of suspicion, Ruby entered the gym.

* * *

Meanwhile in Rustboro…

"You are getting co-"

"Say 'colder' one more time and Arceus knows what will happen to you, father."

"You have absolutely no sense of humor."

Steven tiredly nodded to his father's statement, his head hitting the table. Another night's sleep deprived scouring every inch of Rustboro for the trouble-making child; his pokémon provided him without an answer in spite of their night surveillance responsibility.

"Manners, Steven, I will not have you drool on my desk."

_Manners my foot, you senile old man. _"I do not drool," he snapped. Ordinarily Steven was courteous, if not his father would scold and lecture him out of his wits end. Without enough sleep, Steven's mentality returns to a juvenile phase of childish remarks, bitter comebacks, along with a snappy attitude towards anyone in a three foot radius – Mr. Stone had always acquired a migraine when his son reverts it such a way, although he had a dark sense of humor making the former champion feel worse and groggy as a form of _sweet _revenge.

Steven's spine was aching to regain a suitable posture to stretch, and so he did with a grunt. Pressing his fingers firmly into his closed eyes, partially trying to regain a moment's worth of sleep, in another to maintain the little bit of consciousness he had. Stifling a yawn, the blunette continued with his line of probable answers, "Is he following the path to Fallarbor town?"

"Colder."

"Guh…" The former champion drawled, his head hitting the desk for a second time. The hot-cold game ran his patience, the small amount of consciousness completely caved to sleep.

* * *

And Ruby was tackled down the second his foot stepped inside gym territory.

"Surf's up—whoops."

Seeing revolving torchicks in his vision, his scarlet eyes became focus with a sensation of a painful jab on his forehead. Upon closer inspection, he assumed the surf board the gym leader tucked under his arm struck him to the head hard enough to stumble backwards on his rear. Taking the offered hand from the apologizing gym leader, the two laughed the matter away. Brawly heaved a sigh at Ruby's explanation, confessing his anticipation surfing amongst the ocean blue after being cooped in the gym with potential trainers and other "seriously important confidential matters." Brawly's pokémon also exposed their smaller surfboards with a grimace of disappointment. The young trainer held sympathy for the enthusiastic surfer, albeit he needed to return to Rustboro promptly before Steven could badger every single detail out of him.

Ruby clasped his hands together, titling his head affectionately, and mustering a cute whimper in place of his neutral tone in hope of swaying Brawly's intention of surfing. "It shouldn't take long! P-Please?"

Brawly scratched the back of his head, nervously opting and weighing the results. His blue eyes longingly stared at the rolling waves, as did his pokémon, but he could never ignore a trainer's pleads as much as he wanted to. Finally yielding, Brawly reassured Ruby with a beaming smile, leading the curious trainer into his gym.

"I never got your name!" Brawly said from the opposite side of the field, holding his position.

"Oh, it's Ru-" Ruby cut himself short. By all means he had to avoid revealing his name, especially individuals like gym leaders with connections to Norman. "Brendan. It's Brendan." He added quickly, realization dawning that Roxanne had little concern for names—and thankfully no referee—and put every effort battling instead.

"Alright, Brendan, let me see what you're made of!"

The referee called their respective backgrounds to announcement, also declaring switches were permitted.

"Weird. A kid in that town just went missing."

Cue tense laughter. "Uh, yeah…weird."

Proceedings took place under the momentum of complete silence between the fire in their eyes, simultaneously the opposing forces called out their first pokémon. On Brawly's side was his Machop in full glory, unleashing a loud battle cry to the delcatty Ruby called out. Brawly had no reason to draw the attention to the severe disadvantage in abilities, there was a sense of intimidation the once pleading trainer had already taken a serious temperament, and the way his eyebrows were knit together reminded him of Norman. _Yup, definitely weird, _Brawly thought.

It was the spark of excitement he felt all over again, it was far too different than the nervous goosebumps running on his skin when judges were announcing the result on the large overhead in contest halls. The anticipation of winning a battle and winning a contest so distinct, but can easily entwine together as the greatest excitement of all.

_This is it._

* * *

Mr. Stone's attention was drawn to the massive flood of e-mails as soon as he opened his laptop—why did Steven decided to set the wallpaper to a swalot opening its mouth, a small speech bubble reading 'IN YOU GO' was beyond his state of comprehension, and frankly, he thought his son needed a_ little_ help—the subjects correlating with work, personal e-mails, and the latest discount for a dozen bottles of moomoo milk. Skimming through the messages, his attention returned to his son sleeping heavenly on the cherry wood desk, a large ridiculous smile plastered his face and a trail of drool running down the corner of his mouth. It was one of several occasions that made Mr. Stone quite infuriated to the point of being humorous. Steven had the chance to sleep with a banette's grin whereas the president had to read assortment of the usual work-related files.

In all honesty, Mr. Stone wanted to press firmly on the bridge of Steven's nose, closing off the air path to have his son snorting, panicking, and falling off his seat for kicks. No, Mr. Stone was far more mature. Far, far, far more mature.

_Careful, careful…almost…eureka!_

Without disturbing his slumbering son, Mr. Stone moved the blunette's seat closer to the desk, giving an accurate position of a hunched-over position of sleep rather than having Steven's chin rest on the decorative edges, leaving a bright pink imprint on his pale skin. With swift, cautious movements, Mr. Stone lifted the drooping arm hanging from the side of the desk—

It was the perfect image Mr. Stone will ever have of his grown boy sucking on his thumb like a little child.

_This will make the perfect Christmas cards for my employees. 8x10 for everyone…perfect._

Spotting the pokénav, Mr. Stone genuinely smirked.

* * *

"Iron tail, Coco!" he commanded, eyes focusing on the impact of the impending attack.

Ruby fished out his glasses, pushing them forward on the bridge of his nose to observe for the slightest change in position or facial expression on the gym leader, although shot with disappointment his opponent remained fully confident. Coco back stepped to her trainer's part of the field, growling and baring her sharp teeth at Machop dodging the attacks on cue by the gym leader's order. Coco's shoulders relaxed slightly as she waited for further orders. There was a moment's pause between gym leader and trainer, consuming the indulgence of raw power, the intensity of one's reflection to pokémon. Pride, joy – Ruby knew his pokémon could win, they needed to win…

For Sapphire.

There was a distinguished line between healthy and unhealthy, of becoming a trainer and pursuing the idealism of a trainer for a person's sake: of becoming someone or stuck in rut _trying_ to be someone. It was a rush of anxiety in a negative and positive aspect; it was Ruby's drive to continue a battle that could be his, that _will_ be his. He was thoroughly consumed winning for someone, he realized, he had forgotten the days where the very fiber of pokémon battles made him indescribably happy.

Perhaps winning for Sapphire was his objective, and with the faintest smile he wanted to feel the thrill of being in pitch. Roxanne had pokémon types that posed no threat against Zuzu's water attacks, but surely the Nosepass she owned was weakening against dual water-ground attacks. In Dewford's gym, it was against a type two of his three pokémon were severely disadvantaged against.

"Cross chop, go!"

Everything just made it all the more _exciting_.

There was no raised platform or structures on the field to shield from frontal attacks. The flat-surface served as a double-disadvantage on his behalf. In Rustboro, Roxanne's gym had rock structures scattered around the arena, giving Zuzu places to hide when her Nosepass would use rock edge. Seemingly there were no openings in Brawly's confidence, as if he had this battle wrapped around his little finger from the very beginning. This will not waver Ruby's previous self-assurance, his past adventures sneaking inside his father's gym allowed him to have a preview of various trainer strategies. His delcatty may not be able to sprout wings to freely maneuver in the air, but her feline body gave her the ability to leap high when the situation is called for.

Coco wearily looked back at her trainer, her eyes pleading for a command to the incoming attack. He sent back a signal to wait exactly for the cue, his scarlet red eyes analyzing the Machop's speedy performance. The muscular blue pokémon pried its arms open…_There it is!_

"Coco, take a jump from its shoulders!"

For a brief second she appeared lost or attempting to figure her trainer's odd order, realization dawned on her as she took a stance, her front paws lead the Machop to stumble on its attack, its large red eyes bulging at the feline's sudden pounce. The weight of the rest of her body managed to send the Machop forward, falling on its two feet from the pressure her back paws impacted on the lithe, muscular body.

"Use assist!" Ruby exclaimed, leaning toward in anticipation on his side of the field.

There was the change in expression, baffled, bewildered – he has been waiting for the cool mask of confidence to crumble. Lady luck, at long last, took pity on Ruby to grant the delcatty the assist move on psychic based attacks. From her mouth she opened a beam of various lights; Ruby safely assumed Coco used psybeam on the backside of Brawly's machop. The fighting blue creature's muscles stiffened, signaling it was not defeated at the very instant though weakened enough to be applying most of its weight on its left foot.

"You're really unpredictable like him. If you guys looked more alike, I would say you and Norman could have been related. Your serious expression is almost like his!" Brawly commented offhandedly.

_Urk._

* * *

Skarmory's eyes rested on the calming blue ocean, a loud rolling sigh escaped its beak. Skarmory was capable of tolerating Steven rambling at twenty miles per hour, every so often catching his breath so he continue where he left off without so much as a quench for water. Having been with Steven from hatchling to present, Skarmory had learned it needed to recuperate the attention with senseless cawing, feigning interest so the blunette would avoid poking its metallic wings while flying, or the "Are you even listening to me?' question appears at every three minute interval. Skarmory tilted sideways to avoid the deserted small island's palm trees, earning a low whimper from its trainer gripping on the metallic neck for dear life. Regaining balance in mid-air, the metal-body bird quietly watched Steven eyeing the water with a strong sense of distrust, fear, and a tint of rage.

As a fledgling Skarmory personally witnessed, alongside with Metagross, an exhibition of Steven's various forms of interactions with many people, including the few "relationships" and Arceus-awful coping skills. Under the title of "Thou-who-shall-not-be-named," it seemed to be the only rationale the blunette still feared, or rather detest, any moving water mobile or the sight of a large mass of water without land in sight. It was a terrible sensation of loneliness, carved in despair and riddled with resentment. Skarmory flew further near the water.

Steven moved forward, his arms tightening around the slender neck of his metallic-bird pokémon. He knew he should have called out Metagross; the metallic arachnid had sympathy treading through unfriendly oceans.

The ranting continued. Skarmory cawed on cue before Steven asked for the attention.

"-deserve a break as well? One full bed rest is all I'm asking for, without a sign of trouble, and without a certain someone choosing to scamper off and worry me half to death. No, that can't happen because nothing could ever be that simple. What have I ever done? Honestly! Can't Arceus pity me for once?"

"Skarrr…" the pokémon boredly replied. '_Why did I have to hatch?_'

"You agree?" Steven asked a little touched if he was assuming his pokémon is showing a trace of consideration.

"'armory. Skarr…" In direction translation:_ 'Uh-huh, sure. Weren't you a handful as a teenager? I thought those days would be over.'_

* * *

There were several instances Coco's iron tail had been countered or avoided by the persistent battling spirit lingering in the lithe body of the fighting pokémon. The longer the time stretched the quicker both pokémon on the field were growing increasingly tired, their heaving pants, their ragged breathing pace had alarmed equal opponents. Ruby was long aware it would only be a matter of time before Coco either cave into exhaustion or fainted by an instant defeat the more sluggish the feline's move were becoming, alike with her unsuccessful row of iron tails missing at every deceiving opportunity. Judging by the appearance of the jaded Machop, the frail state of his delcatty was to that of fighting-type.

It took longer than he anticipated, but a cruel tease would have Coco land one final iron tail on machop to end Brawly's first pokémon.

"Coco, Claydol is coming! Don't you wanna hurry up and get back inside your ball?"

Never had he witness the beautiful feline physically twitch, or how her shoulders tense to hoist her attacking position in a more feral, threatening manner. The cloud of impacted dust surrounded the field faster than Ruby could spot Coco moving from her position, obscuring the view as both could only wait for the clouds to disappear from sight to determine the outcome of the possibly landing attack.

It was a draw: one more against two.

_I can do this!_

The battle continued without hesitation on either side of the field, an adrenaline of determination fueling the command of Ruby's mightyena and Brawly's Makuhita. There were instances his mightyena would remain motionless on the battle ground, recovering every bit of its strength coping with its disadvantage against the thick fighting type but slowly, and surely more determined as it bore its fangs against the its opponent. In his mind, he was saving Zuzu for last if Nana fainted from exhaustion. He reasoned by then the makuhita would have been weaken to such an extent that a blast of water gun would be suffice an easy win—until there sparked a glimmer of white light surrounding the limping fighting type, its white silhouette visibly growing thicker, growing so much larger in comparison of its former self.

There was nothing worst when all his efforts fell to naught the moment Makuhita evolved on the field, its strength replenished and without the familiar markings Nana bestowed on the yellow-like skin. Mightyena had difficultly standing in place from its weakened state, as well as a sense of intimidation from the dead-panned stare of Hariyama's black iris to the medium-sized noir hound. Regardless of its weakened outlook Nana kept fighting to the end before all fours gave in, echoing a low wolf-like mewl signaling its defeat. Ruby fished Zuzu's ball, red orbs fixated on the red-white capsule resting on the palm of his hand whilst ignoring the loud battle cries from the oversized fighting pokémon on the opposing field.

Cracking a smile, Ruby whispered to the ball, "All you now."

Pressing the button on the catching apparatus, a streak of white light released the blue amphibian.

"Vital throw, Hariyama!"

_This is definitely going against everything I believed in._

"Blast yourself in the air with water gun!"

Brawly flinched, "Wh-What?"

Zuzu sprung in the air with a strong stream of water jetting from its mouth, the impact allowing the blue amphibian to remain airborne for several seconds enough to hear the next order: "Coat this field with mud, Zuzu!"

His animosity towards the feeling—_no_, the sight of an unclean surrounding drove him on ends, and it took every cell in his body not to cringe at the mud splattered on the window, the field, and tip of his black sneakers. Due to a compulsive urge Ruby inspected the hem of his basketball shorts for specks of grime spouted out of Zuzu's mouth, a great wave of relief relaxed the tension the black leggings were left clean. _Agenda for today: win this battle. Get to ready to face the music with Steven. Wash sneakers. I got this._

Hariyama's large body relied on its small feet to land attacks on the opponent, however the mud let marshtomp escape with ease by thrusting its body back, its own appendages allowing Zuzu to glide freely on the field. The few openings weakened Hariyama considerably by attacking the legs with several blasts of water gun and mud-slaps; the progress was time-consuming for both gym leader and trainer-coordinator. Zuzu never had a long luck streak, occasionally Hariyama would grab onto the fins of the amphibian legs, tossing the defenseless aquatic blue creature haphazardly to the other end of the field.

"Earthquake!" exclaimed Ruby, leaning forward, fist tightly clenching—

_This ought to do it!_

* * *

Upon exiting the arena he held the gym badge high to setting sun, acknowledging the fine accomplishment and performance. Ruby grinned at his three pokémon; bumping fist with Zuzu, all four proceeded quietly to the pokémon center. The only sound in the air included the ambient chatter of the citizens roaming the sandy city, the loud television from the ramen shop nearby announcing the forecast, and sand creating a scrunching sound for every step taken. Trainer and pokémon indulged in the feeling of idyllic relief, reencountering the nostalgic sensation fighting battles after countless battles.

"Who's up for some food?" Ruby touched his stomach, patting it a few times, "A battle sure knows how to work up an appetite! I'm thinking-"

"_I'm thinking_ you have much to explain, Ruby."

Ruby had no intention of turning around: being missing for two days, he recognized the speaker by the exasperated tone of speech.

_Steven Stone, you always have the perfect timing. Arceus bless your soul if you're not pissed._

* * *

**A/N**: What a monster. This was, without a doubt, so hard to write up. My spring break is here(and gonna end. SOBS.) so I'm gonna get a new chapter up. I'll remind myself, but sorry if this chapter came out a little…iffy. I know it's rushed, but I needed progress. FOR A VERY GOOD REASON.  
But on a funny note…

_HOW COULD YOU NOT CRACK A SMILE TO THIS_: http:(slash)(slash)tinypic(dot)com/r/k0osuw/7

**Edit**: the next chapter is complete. I'll post it in two days or so.


	8. Wallace

**A/N**: So I'm back. Yeah~ Anyone watch Rio? The movie was so cute. -w-  
**Extra note**: This time I'm going to retouch the emotional appeal even if it kills me, 'cause I've been straying too far. Tiny-weeny comic relief input every now and then if it's even noticeable.  
**Warning**: Sexual implications.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 7**

︵

If I rested here a while more, would you hold me to your heart  
If I knew what it was meant for, would I know to play my part  
Out of my way I'm leaving, another excuse before I'll stay  
Reality's applauding, I know I don't know the right way

x./Poets Of The Fall - Diamond for tears\.x

* * *

And it was a moment they were both suspended by silence, one of the two patiently waiting a response in an oddly calm demeanor, and for a moment everything in the world felt like it had been set to mute. It was true, however, Ruby was mindlessly fleeing around Hoenn for selfish and untold reasons, and there was always a nagging reality check throughout all the circumstances that unleashed a small downpour of guilt. Ruby would never blatantly apologize, unfortunately a large amount of pride ran down equally from father to son, he would be conceded a hypocrite after his original thoughts of the meaningless three words that could be spouted from a person's mouth—with no personal experience, he could not determine if "I love you" could become the second three-words on the list. Sparing a glance at his pokémon surrounding him in a huddled circle, as if almost intimidated by the former champion's act of calm tolerance, Ruby was also patiently waiting for Steven to draw out the first few words and presuppose the situation from the tell-tale condition of the youth's pokémon.

They bore several smudges on their skin and coat, a few scratches struggling against the large hariyama and the diminutive size, but certainly not weak, machop that rounded a number of attacks on the hobbling delcatty. In light of Nana's and Coco's condition, they felt the need to escape from their pokéballs to exit the gym in a gallant stride forward. Leading to their current exchanging of looks between the feline, hound, and amphibian sitting awkwardly on the sand, staring dumbly at the small grains trailing their tails and fin until something, _anything, _spurred up between the pair.

Never had Ruby been so interested, so compelled to wipe away the running mucus slithering down the blue creature's nostrils. For all intention purposes he felt slightly self-conscious revealing a reason so private to Steven—someone who could never understand his case and would find the entire process tedious. _Everything I'm doing is for Sapphire_, served as a self reminder: surely Steven would not understand "going to such an extent for someone that resents your very being." Inwardly he cringed; hurt by his own words, scared that perhaps all he is doing is straying farther away, losing _every bit _of himself for someone...

For someone that hates him.

A gust of wind rushed past Ruby's hands, serving as a reminder of the gym badge purposely hidden out of view from the piercing blue eyes steadily observing his fidgeting movements from behind. Ruby brought his hand to his chest, slowly opening his fist to unravel the small gym badge held on the palm of his hand. He was plagued with thoughts, _Is it worth it?_ and the such from the minute he entered Roxanne's gym, when he asked Mr. Briney to return back to Dewford, to the _very_ second he remained with his back turn to Steven, completely speechless and any form of words wanting to verbalize were sealed from escaping his mouth. Figuring Steven deserved an answer—or better yet, a small lie to cover his reasoning—he drew a breath before slowly turning around, guilt riddled in his expression that lessen the frown on the blunette's feature.

"Look who's back!" a familiar voice rang in the air.

Ruby could have never been more relieved to see Brawly prodding out of the gym and into their distance.

In a friendly gesture, Brawly flashed his bright white teeth in a goofy smile, his arm looped sloppily around Steven's shoulder. They were exchanging a few words with each other before Brawly focused his attention to Ruby, to which the child flinched from the sudden change in awareness.

"Oh, Brendan, you're here." Brawly pointed out rather plainly.

Steven hiked a brow. "Brendan?"

"The one you were staring all mean-like. He was my-"

Ruby panicked, swiftly searching around for a diversion. "Br-Brawly! T-The waves! They're...uh, looking ideal for surfing! I bet you don't wanna miss 'em while you still have the chance!"

"…You're right! C'mon, Steven, you promised to go surfing the next time you came to Dewford." Without much care for protest, the fighting-specialist gym leader roughly tugged Steven by the arm, through raw power he effortlessly haul Steven despite planting the heels of his foot in the sand to the stop the enthusiastic surfer from his movements. Ruby smiled at the sight, relieved that the prude Steven could be forcibly dragged upon his will to surf—did he possess such talent?—and the way he turned his head, pointing an accusatory finger at Ruby whilst mouthing the words "Stay put!" In response he only nodded, sheepishly smiling to contain the laughter bubbling his chest.

Shaking his head, Ruby was content at the moment. No longer lingering on the verge of desperation to travel to the next town to participate in a contest hall or gym battle to win his third badge: whether or not this would be enough to restore his friendship with Sapphire, he would be willing to take the risk for the girl who was ripped of her peaceful innocence around pokémon. Stifling a yawn, Ruby decided he would have his pokémon restore their strength for meantime while he could alert Briney early at the docks for the upcoming departure to the next destination: Slateport.

* * *

Without much of task left on Dewford, Ruby informed Briney he would be in the room below the boat until Steven would take the liberty of returning instead of mingling in the ocean waves that could drown him at any given moment. The last storm had him feeding on negativity, the weakened feeling of steadily losing consciousness or the water rushing inside his mouth to fill his lungs with nothing but the bitter taste of seawater—if it was not for the wailmer, he could have been long dead. Tapping the cedar desk beside him with his knuckles, the scarlet hued observed the walls with an absent interest, legs swaying forward and back to distract the air of boredom in the small room.

His pokémon trio curled up together to sleep, steadily making their own form of recovery after nurse Joy's treatment, sleeping away the boredom they could have felt if they remained awake. Although he almost jumped in his seat as the door slammed open, the sight of blue hair matted on Steven's forehead brought his scarlet eyes to widen considerably. Weakly puffing the strand of silver-blue hair away from his lightly-dark circled eyes, Steven jadedly shuffled to the youth's side without much of an explanation of his raggedy disposition. If Steven's skin were any paler in comparison to his milk-white skin, he could have easily passed as a corpse the way he could barely retain his stance, and perhaps an idiotic groan or two could also suit the corpse-like attitude.

"No need to look so cranky." Ruby pointed out.

"Stop disappearing and perhaps I could earn some proper rest instead of searching hours on end for a certain misfit." Steven groaned, "I could also have avoided forcibly having to surf with Brawly on his deathtrap of a surfboard. Worst of all...my hair smells like this Arceus-forsaken ocean!"

_Nag, nag, nag._

Ruby's eyes narrowed at the dark circles forming under Steven's eyes.

_"- I could earn proper rest instead of searching hours on end for a certain misfit."_

_Sheesh. You don't need to put it that way._

Rethinking the event at Rustboro's small beach—the humiliation, the anger rising when Steven implied Ruby's demeanor to be promiscuous to the lowest extent of sharing kisses with any male with two legs. That enough should have justified a reason to continue a shred of resentment to the tired corporate son taking a seat beside him. The mere fact Steven scavenged the hours of dawn for him filled him with a light-laugh worthy happiness in his chest. To this point it had the corner of his lips twitch upwards to Steven's immense consideration after all the trouble Ruby continuously caused. Prone to many dilemmas? Hopefully not, at his age he felt he should not have troubles besides family and friendship – even love could be possible, despite how "little" he was able to know about the subject besides the vague meaning of togetherness between a man and a woman.

His mother and his father were prime examples: his father would have no intention to overstep the boundary of common knowledge of the only resolution to make children, to bring no shame, to _never _form a relationship of someone of the opposite sex. Sapphire was certainly a precious gem, his precious gem, but he could only see her in terms of friendship. He had publicly seen a relationship between males and females to be accepted in society of the "taken life." A single life for so many years into adulthood was degrading, prone to humiliation by others, and the annoyance felt when others would gawk in disbelief at the status. At one point he watched the small cycle in Petalburg where many women would move in a relatively close distance from the gym, husbands assisting the several machoke with unloading.

Were they also under the pretense of togetherness for the sake of the public eye?

Ruby had never been bothered to pay mind to public display until he met Wally, for their boyish relationship had been almost, if not completely, platonic. The beach incident was definitely the boldest approach Wally ever took: their hands were laced together felt so...

_Not right._

Steven dozed off, exhausted to lie down properly on the bed and settled for Ruby shoulders unconsciously. The action made Ruby's heart leap in surprise, his brain racking the possibility to scoot away for the blunette to rest on the pillows rather than his bony shoulders. Red eyes turned away, his forefinger scratching his cheek in a nervous habit. Ruby wanted to groan loudly as the heat steadily made its way to his cheeks, an evident bright tomato-red blush settling all over his face.

Yanking a pillow from the end of the bed, he padded it down on his lap until it had taken a plump, feathery form. Unlike the pillow fluffing, having Steven rest down was a far more difficult task to keep the former champion from stirring. His heart almost gave in a few occasions where Steven groaned a few words before resuming the chord of light breathing. It was his turn to be the caring individual instead of Steven always fulfilling such role, but with a grin he could finally say _Finally! _having Steven snoozing away on his lap. The realization dawned on him, causing Ruby's cheek to delve in a darker shade of red.

He will consider the wrongness later to have a grown man sleep on his lap…much, _much_ later.

_This is going to be so awkward when he wakes up...WHAT WAS I THINKING?_

His focus easily had gotten distracted by the man's hand – long, slender, thankfully nowhere close to feeling the bones. With a blooming curiosity, Ruby wrapped his hand around Steven's wrist to support the limb in the air; his free hand slowly planted itself on the hand. Ruby expected no less they were much larger than his, but after curling the fingers together hand in hand:

_It feels…right._

Keeping the hands interlocked with another, Ruby released the hand grasping the man's wrist to fish inside his pocket for his pokenav. Upon turning it on, he was hardly surprised by the many missed calls and unread text. One in particular caught his attention, the one sent from Mr. Stone yesterday, with the subject that read in caps: "THIS IS JUST PRECIOUS."

_Holy Arceus._

_This is...this is adorable._

He absolutely, positively adored the picture Mr. Stone sent him of Steven sucking his thumb like an infant.

A gentle smile overcame the indifferent frown Ruby wore on his lips, never once he attempted to pull his hand away from Steven's, his other hand made its way to the dampened blue hair. Despite the stench of sea and the dampened feeling of the pillow case absorbing the liquid on the end of his silver-blue hair, his fingers glided through easily, almost impressed not a single knot formed in the blue locks. The fingers parted away from Steven's hair, descending down the trail from the cheekbones and finally settling on the man's pale lips. Gliding his thumb over the bottom lip, Ruby was curious how it felt to be kissed by Steven. Without a single trace of doubt in his mind, Ruby could fully agree Steven Stone had turned out to be a wonderful man, personality and appearance-wise—_anyone _could feel soulfully indulged having to be stared by his oceanic-blue irises.

Ruby felt slightly envious of Steven's eyes; being born with eyes the color of blood in a peaceful living area such as Petalburg kept him isolated by the townspeople disturbed sneers. In Johto, Ruby was the centerpiece of mockery of the school children: it was a sensible reaction, he figured, because everyone around him had a natural green, blue, or hazel-brown color to their eyes. Ruby did not feel like a complete outside however. Flannery was a blazing flame of redness: her red hair held back in a ponytail like a flaming flower, her bright red eyes the color of burning flames. She was recognized, admired, a beauty of Lavaridge—and alike many else, he also admired her.

_I wonder if Steven ever hooked up with someone. _

* * *

_"I'm going out, father."_

_"Yes, yes. Make sure you bluk berries make it home this time and _not_ waking up in another region."_

_Steven scoffed, "It only happened twice!"_

_"Shoo! Off with you now! I have to work," he turned in his revolving chair; a metal clunk heard opening the filing cabinet. "Have a good time with him, Steven."'_

_"...Thanks." He said, bolting the door behind him._

_The days were at their prime. He relinquished his title three weeks ago after his twentieth birthday, having no desire to have his time consumed with endearing trainers swarming one after another for the champion title, especially having to awkwardly console his opponent to the best of his abilities when they dropped to tears in devastation. One time Steven repeated the same line used on every other trainer, "Keep trying!", earning him the most hateful glare he ever received in his life. His lover should have rightfully earned the title, so after a brief exchange between the two it was decided the new bearer of the Hoenn champion title would be his boyfriend. Steven preoccupied himself in caves around the Hoenn region for several days until _he _would have a free day from the league._

_He feel an entirely boyish feeling: so giddy seeing his lover after six long, boring days excavating the same cave without the slightest glimmer of hope finding rare stones. Everstones after everstones were the most useless stones in caves, the clutter of plain looking stones only piled further after tossing aside at every single everstone he stumbled upon. Pushing aside the ridiculous recollection, Steven situated himself on Rustboro's sandy beach, tossing small pebbles to the ocean. It was a hypotonic trance watching the ripples spreading on the deep-blue ocean; several times he would mutter an apology to a flopping magikarp pelted by the tiny stones. _Don't hunt me down when you turn into a gyrados, thanks, _he absently mused._

_Steven's heart leap in his throat at the sudden warmth radiating on his shoulder, the loving touch he adored in their two years of togetherness, his lover's fingers running through his hair. His lover looped his arms around Steven's shoulder from behind; amused he blew a puff of air into Steven's ear to feel the man shudder. Steven grew red, embarrassed to no end having someone possess the secret of ears sensitivities: a nibble, a lick, all the possibilities had a chill run down his spine._

_"Stop it, Wallace!" Steven whined, playfully swatting away the hands roaming around his neck._

_"Missed you too." Wallace cooed, leaning downward to place a light kiss on Steven's nose._

_Furrowing his brows, Steven placed his hands on either side of Wallace's face, pulling him down to properly kiss the tender lips he adored just as much. Steven entwined his tongue with Wallace, resisting the urge to chuckle Wallace's mild frustration unfastening the white button down shirt._

_Wallace pried his lips away from Steven, more focused ripping the button from its socket, "You work on this."_

_Having no time prepare himself, Wallace's hand skidded down the band of his undergarments, delighted running teasing circles, excited having Steven wriggling in his grasp. Biting the shell of Steven's ear, he whispered, "This might hurt."_

_— _

_Steven felt like he was almost out of breath._

_It a miracle not a single citizen today approached the beach. The blunettes gazed at the bright sky above, their thoughts occupying their attention to ignore the sticky feeling between their legs. _

_Nothing. Absolutely_ nothing_ could ruin this moment._

_"Steven…we need to end this."_

* * *

Briney watched his Peeko soaring in the sky, cawing amongst another flock of wingulls flying close to the rolling blue waves. She returned a few minutes after, perched on Briney's shoulder, her wings flapping to reel the captain's attention to the presence on the deck. Turning towards the direction of her insistent flapping, Briney's eyebrows rose.

"Oh, Ruby." he said plainly. Noticing the serious expression the coordinator's face, Briney questioned the sudden change in temperament.

"Mr. Briney," Ruby shuffled in place uncomfortably, "do you anything about Wallace? To Steven?"

An unsettled frown replaced the elderly captain's wrinkled smile. Scratching the back of his head in an unsure matter, Briney's attention flickered back to the flock of wingulls.

"Ah. Never thought I would hear 'dem two in the same sentence together since that day…" Briney let out a tense chuckle. "Quite the spur they created, from beginning…to end."

* * *

**A/N**: The next chapter might not pop up anytime soon, although I'm not entirely sure.


	9. Defining the greater importance

**A/N**: And here's the next chapter~ it's just as short as the last. And guess what?** THIS FIC IS OFFICIALLY ONE YEARS OLD**. LIKE AWW. I wonder if this will be finished by next year lulz. On a brighter addition, I'm gonna try to squeeze some fluff somewhere in this chapter – let's see how that turns out. 8D  
**Extra notes**: The way this is turning out, I think I'm kind of far away from where I really want to be. It's cool, it's cool. It could give me time to think of Steven and Ruby's bond through the fic, for better or for worst…:D? Oh yeah, since I wanted to post it today no matter what, I may have overlooked some things in the document, so I can guarantee there are a few errors lurking around.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 8**

He is waiting right here,  
this is your chance to step inside  
He is right here waiting,  
lose your lifetime debating.  
What you thought was right,  
has been wrong all this time.

x./Attack Attack! - Shred, white, and blue\.x

* * *

_It took long enough to wake up._

Sweating bullets from a sleep-deprived, nausea-inducing day of surfing, including a reoccurring nightmare of his last contact with his former lover was, by no means, an appropriate manner to awaken inside a rocking boat. The sight of the black material on his suit faintly reminded the quick change in wear after placing his life on the line with Brawly, and in an attempt to regain his natural breathing pattern the blunette tugged the red cravat from his neck. Too distraught to find give slightest thought to the splotches of sweat on his cravat, he gave a wayward glance at the ceiling. A dry laugh was released in a heartbeat; how the notion of a simple memory could distract his sickness with any form of moving transportation. His blue eyes were the verge of watering if he placed anymore sentimental, lackluster feelings into the something so meaningless after such a span of time. After several attempts to forget—destroying his sleeping cycle, dwelling in caves to keep his mind preoccupied—he was fortunately unable to recall how many months or weeks passed since the end of his debatable one-sided relationship.

He was aware of the unhealthy standards of his attachment that left him soulless in the eyes of the public throughout the darkest of his days. Their inquisitive eyebrow rising, _mocking him_ at the lack of space Wallace would occupy always being by his side since the beginning of the relationship. It took Steven plenty of emotional restraint to prevent himself from lashing out to those who pitied him, repeating their "Everything will be alright", or their "Plenty of other people out there!" remarks repeating itself like a mantra if his face hinted the signature signs of depression, such as frowning or being emotionally absent to social gatherings. He felt a wave of relief when the news eventually died of his relationship towards Wallace – less of a strain to his upset smile as it is. To date, Steven would agree the memories sadden him more than anything; he would be lying if he said he was "over it." A fear rested in his heart when the one day would approach where he would encounter Wallace while roaming the Hoenn region for his father and Ruby' sake.

After sitting upright throughout his heavy contemplation, he stood up before leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest. Despite all the mental preparation he could muster in a matter of months, a direct conversation with Wallace would have him stumbling on his own words, his face delving in a deep-shade of red muttering gibberish in his state. And after it was all over, Steven would just weakly wave while the new Hoenn champion would continue onward without sparing Steven another glance—he felt his heart clench at his own train of thoughts. As much as Steven desired the bliss to deny the actuality between himself and Wallace, he had to grasp the unpleasant reality:

The man he poured his heart to will continue advancing forward.

And he himself will forever be the speck in the distance, never budging, entirely unmoving…

Steven sunk to his knees.

* * *

"Thank you," Ruby said politely, accepting the offered water bottle from Briney.

"As just anotha' citizen, my sources are from the media. Persis'ent folks dem paparazzi are! 'Eryday it was Steven and Wallace nonsense, it makes me mad they wouldn't give dem two some peace'nd privacy!"

Ruby could never imagine the frustration earning a little decency with media hounds running havoc for a scoop, day in and day out never to relish a single opportunity of solitude. Having Briney very serious of the matter had Ruby restrain the grin creeping on his face: at least he had an explanation why the former champion had an incredible amount of tolerance depending on the circumstances. Uncapping the bottle from his drink, he took a few sips between Briney's bantering about the media hoarding, several times he would be completely absorbed and detail a few stories he recalled from the television broadcasting at the time. Everything Briney has mentioned thus far had Ruby deflate at the trend following amongst the end to every story of Wallace and Steven's bond.

They sounded like a very happy couple.

_It was as if they were meant for each other_. And the thought of a separation between the pair sounded very unlikely from being a visually picture-perfect homosexual couple. Briney discussed the matter as well, because not all of Hoenn was so forgiving having a homosexual champion to represent the pride sake of the region, and the other half in the relationship a son to a corporate genius for his contribution. Briney mentioned the few occasions he would stroll with Peeko to Rustboro, occasionally seeing Wallace and Steven on their way to Rustboro's beach hand-in-hand in spite of the sneers they received from the locals. Briney praised Wallace's casual attitude toward the hostile group, as if not perturbed by their insults and rude remarks, and very protective of Steven's evident discomfort handling such a group like his significantly other effortlessly did.

The tales were very straight, although a question remained: _If they were so perfect, why break up?_

"In the end, nobody ever got a full reason." Briney stated, and for moment he only let the silence roll by.

"Media gave us only one explanation. Is it true 'ough? I ain't too sure, laddie. The last broadcast rumored the cause being Wallace's love fo'someone else…Winona, Fortree's gym leader. Some were grateful things could normalize, on tha'otha end she earned herself some of the latter hate. It was a mixed response to those that were supporters and those who were 'gainst tha'two. Petty talk!"

Ruby shook the bottle, watching the swaying movements of the water revolving in a circular motion. "How are things now?" _Either he really couldn't find anything else on the television, or he was honestly interested in all the gossip. _"Uh, I mean…there was no other moment where they tried to get back t-together?" he tried to maintain an indifferent expression to conceal to the crack in his voice after saying the word 'together.'

Briney shook his head, "No sirree."

Left with no questions residing in his mind, Ruby parted ways with the elderly captain and proceeded to descend the stairs to the bottom hold of the boat. After the brief discussion with Briney, Ruby gazed absentmindedly at the closer door in his direction: surely Steven would still be soundly asleep on the bed. He was conflicted whether to enter the room or return to the deck until they reached Slateport's land, the thought of the previous relationship Steven had with the current champion of Hoenn had left him uneasy. He was stuck pondering whether he could smile the same or possibly talk in the same formality with Steven as if he was completely unaware of the additional information on Wallace.

He shook his violently; _Steven knows how to spot a lie._

Ruby opened the door, the sight of Steven fast asleep had a gentle smile creeping on his face, and for a fraction of the second he bore ill towards Wallace to discard someone like the blunette in front of him for a woman. He could barely withstand having to see Steven go through a series of pained expressions in his sleep; Ruby could never imagine how much the blunette might have been crushed to have his lover end the relationship so abruptly. Kneeling down to the bed's level, Ruby ran his fingers through the tresses of blue hair, his eyes filled with adoration to the _most perfect man ever. _It was a boyish notion of his, although he felt no embarrassment having such words running through his head.

The more thought he placed over Wallace and Steven's relationship, the greater the guilt weighed down on his shoulders. Ruby loved the feeling of being cared, tended – it filled him with a warm happiness that surpassed a happiness he could feel have ever felt with Wally, a happiness he could feel if Sapphire finally accepted their friendship, it surpassed anything his mind could have conjured. Everything in his part was selfish, until this point he paid no concern over the likeliness of Steven's happiness. Was it right for him to be dragged around the region a few weeks—or months—after his devastating break-up? Was Steven still beside him because it was an obligation rather than something done out of the kindness of his heart? And has Steven found it irritating fulfilling his time with the youth on a meowth-rattata chase with Norman?

Such questions made him tense in Steven's presence, as did the extra effect curbing the brief optimistic attitude he held on for the day. Upset by his own negativity, Ruby cupped Steven's face and brought his own face close.

Wallace kissed Steven's lips, he felt he could too. Touching noses, Ruby paused before pressing his lips against the sleeping blunette.

Ruby gave Steven a hard look before pushing himself away-

Sighing, he rested his back on the bed, finally hugging his knees in a weak act of reassurance.

_I can't…I just can't do it._

* * *

Steven contently watched Ruby taking his first step on Slateport's beach; occasionally he would stumble in his track by the children in their tubes running past him. Briney joined Steven, Peeko resting on his shoulder, her wings folded close to her body. Despite the incident in Slateport, amongst the crows were children playing, quick battles progressing, and adults resting on their folding chairs and indulging in the warming heat of the sun. Briney cleared his throat, "Be weary. Cap'ain Stern has returned, as did Aqua."

Steven acknowledged the warning and waved farewell to Briney, he tried to piece the correlation of Aqua's plan with Stern's return to Slateport. He had an overwhelming amount of worry arriving to the city—he was almost envious the adults tanning were not as distressed as he was—that had already been attack by Aqua grunts, and Brawly's summarization on the condition of the people only added more paranoia for Ruby's safety. His father—and no doubt Norman if the gym leader knew the full truth—would have his head if the child was smuggled into harm's way to the recent escalating rates of kidnappings and casualties. Scanning the area for any potential suspicious characters, the lively beach life could not fit under the criteria of "terrorized-inhabitants-running-for-dear-life," rather the only glint of downcast over the ambient laughter of children was a single teenager dressed in black leaning against the soda vendor's shack, her attention flickered over to him before popping another stick of gum in her mouth.

"Steven, feel like moving anytime soon?" Ruby suddenly whined, childishly tugging the hem of man's sleeve. It gave Steven an honest surprise after being deeply absorbed in his own thoughts, his mind then conjured a disturbing mental image of the youth being tied and gagged by the Aqua grunts. The image ran a chill down his spine – he needed to, he _absolutely_ needed to keep Ruby away from the involvements of Aqua, and hopefully his companion will not be resistant or stubborn…

to hold hands.

Steven presumed having to drag Ruby around Slateport by the wrist like a ragdoll was inappropriate and rude, he tried to swallow the lump in his throat how the city dwellers will judge him based on his relationship with Wallace: Steven Stone, famous former Hoenn champion, son a corporate president, evidently homosexual, and holding hands with a _male _child. He thought there could be the smallest chance the community would assume he is doing a good dead returning a child home bearing in mind the mass of kidnappings. The second Ruby tugged on sleeve again, Steven raised his hand, his fingers lacing with the coordinator's smaller fingers.

Steven's eyes widened slightly: Ruby's hands were soft, gentle, and almost as feminine as Wallace's hands. Steven's cheeks tinted pink, slightly embarrassed comparing Ruby to his former lover, especially the emotional attachment that continue to overpower him. He walked forward, gave an experimental tug if Ruby would comply, and to his surprise Ruby followed without much complaint. Ruby's mouth trembled, unsure how to respond, uncertain how to act hand-in-hand with someone that made him feel loved. And it was startling sensation; self-consciously Ruby hoped his hands could tolerate the embarrassment enough not to sweat under Steven's firm hold.

Otherwise he would have to let go, he might be reduced to explaining, and the opportunity might never come again. Ruby felt guilty he took advantage of holding Steven's hand when he was asleep, without a doubt he liked the feeling of Steven holding his hand without him having to do so himself. Realization dawned on him, Ruby knew he had to say _something_; it was not in his nature to be so compliant, the moment could ruin his secret harboring an emotional attachment to Steven if asked.

"I-I'm n-not so-some fo-four year old, you-you know!" Ruby meekly complained.

"I know, but Slateport is very crowded at this hour." Steven chuckled, "Besides, do you really hate this? If you do, please bear with me. It should be over soon, I think…"

_If only you knew how much I don't hate this at all, _Ruby thought. Steven disregarded the moment Ruby held his hand tighter, hastily he proceeded forward to Slateport. Steven thought the cover-up fared nicely, the last thing he wanted is Ruby worry over the Aqua grunts wandering the city, and he considered his lie had some truth in it: Slateport was cluttered with people, the shops were selling and the citizens were crowding over the several popular tables selling the latest pokémon products, gear, and pokémon plush dolls for the smaller children. They made a beeline over a group of children with overly large balloons in hand, sidestepped several woman gushing over jewelry pieces sold at a table, and finally they arrived to a smaller building. Inside were large pieces of machinery, the sketches pinned to tables with precise, descriptive materials that had Ruby attempting to make head or tails of the contraption they could possibly be creating.

_Too many circle-y thingies, too many calculations…ugh. Let it never be said math doesn't hurt the brain._

"Are they the Devon Goods?" Receiving a nod, the new commissioned employee nervously added, "Could you deliver this to him? He should be at Oceanic Museum."

Steven dragged Ruby outside the building before the child could intervene with a "Deliver it yourself!" outburst. Ruby fished his glasses out of his strap-on bag to see, from his standing, the items being sold in the area. His red orbs possessed a glint of an alike enthusiasm as the women crowding around the table that sold high quality cloths for personal and pokémon wear. Steven chuckled and then took the initiative to move forward slightly so Ruby could follow suit. The pair reunited their hands together; the crowd grew far more disruptive the further they maneuvered closer to the displays.

Ruby's free hand ran down the silk fabric, the smooth feeling gliding across his fingers, a surge of inspiration rushing to mind for Slateport's upcoming contest. He took hold of the price tag between his forefinger and thumb, the block numbers' double digits retaining the price for a single yard—hardly enough to make individual outfit for his three pokémon—and he released the tag with a heavy look of disappointment for the pocket change he had could hardly pay for half a yard. "Oh well," Ruby sighed.

Steven grinned, "How much would you have needed?"

"About two, maybe three yards? It doesn't matter," again Ruby sighed, "it cost too much…"

"Does it?" Steven called the saleswoman, "Three yards."

"Right away!" she chimed and then grabbed the roll before departing to her table to cut the measurements.

Ruby stared at the blunette wide-eyed, his words failing him to be the voice of reason. _The price is double digits for one yard! _"B-But…Steven, it cost too much!"

Steven raised a brow, "Not really. This is one-tenth the amount I typically pay for my suits."

_This rich bastard will never understand the woes of pocket change carrying coordinators. Wait, a second—he pays over eight-hundred for some suits? Well, whatever. Anyway… _

"Thanks," Ruby said wholeheartedly, his face slightly reddish as he tightened his grip on Steven's hand. Plastic bag in his other hand, Ruby hummed a light tune in cheerful happiness to the purchase, though he had to resist cursing the minute Steven stole the receipt from his reach.

His blue irises caught sight of specks of blue surrounding the museum, he had a gut wrenching feeling it was the bandanas of the Aqua grunts he spotted, but first he had to rationalize a decent hiding spot for Ruby's safety. The center could have been crowded through the recent appearance of the Aqua grunts; he could also send Ruby on his skarmory to be under Wattson's care for the meanwhile. His shoulders sagged, Ruby would demand an explanation regardless of the ordeal, slowly he began running out of possible choices on Ruby's behalf. In his view he then spotted a small, white cottage decorated with colorful signs, plastered all around in bright flowers, hearts carved into the wooden fixture.

_That's it!_

"Ruby, why don't you head to the Pokémon Club? Yes, you should do that and _stay there _until I finish a quick errand." _Metagross and Aggron should be enough to finish the Aqua members off quickly._

"O-Okay? Then I guess I'll be on my way then?" Ruby said all too much confused, although he was incredibly happy with the purchase to bicker with the former champion.

* * *

_Sometimes I can't help but reconsider how much I like Steven; he's such a weirdo when he wants to be. Maybe I need better taste._

Ruby trekked along to the club Steven suggested, the amount of people has suddenly declined right before his eyes, and if Ruby decided to look back he would only spot Steven hastily making his way to the museum. Around the museum's radius was fairly vacant compared to the shopping area of Slateport, besides Steven entering the museum, a lone teenager blowing a large gum bubble entered right after. With his mind distracted, Ruby accidentally bumped the individual in front of him; he glanced up to apologize, and then peered down to realize he bumped into a rather _short_, scruffy elderly man. Ruby removed his glasses, taking a faint notice of the stranger's ovular black glasses constituting a large portion of his round face.

Ruby fumbled an apology—secretly on both accounts assuming the person he bumped into would be significantly taller—to which the small man gingerly laughed off. Ruby called out his pokémon under the request of the eager man, he least expected the elderly man to pounce on the three of them, snuggling and fawning over their beauty. Ruby was mildly disturbed how his pokémon were being treated under a complete stranger, for a brief second he had every intention to return his groaning pokémon to their respective pokéballs.

"Ah, excuse me! Where are my manners?" he cleared his throat, regaining a professional composure, "I'm the pokémon Fan Club Chairman! I can't help myself when I'm surrounded by such _cute _pokémon!"

Ruby's lips twitched upwards, flattered by someone complementing his pride and joy.

"What a waste it would be using these beautiful pokémon of yours for battling…" the Chairman sighed, his fingers running down Nana's thick fur.

Ruby took hold of the Chairmen by the wrist, dramatic emotional tears welling in his scarlet eyes, "You understand me! Here I thought…" Ruby sniffed, "Here I thought no one would understand."

_Eat that, dad. Someone thinks just like me!_

"Dear boy, many share the same morals as I! Would you like to come inside? Several fan club members are hosting a tea party, I'm sure they will be overjoyed to see your pokémon." The Chairman opened the door, gesturing for the trainer-coordinator to come inside, "With such a negative outlook what others expect from you and your pokémon, so I have a feeling you have much to say."

Ruby flinched.

The Chairman waved his hand, "Everything that will be spoken will remain strictly confidential."

Feeling a flush of relief, Ruby stepped inside and greeted the members of the pokémon loving association.

* * *

** A/N**: L-O-L. So I was playing my Sapphire recently (a newer one I had to buy again) and I was on my way to Fortree. And all of a sudden, as soon as I cross the water from mauville to the other side, casually training my swablu, Steven pops out of nowhere with a "Hi!" At first I was like, "Wtf?" then I was all like, "OHMAHARCEUS YES STEVEN HERE IS HERE LOLOLOLOLZ." I'm so awkward. ._.

And **_bad news_**: I've told someone already, but after this fic is finished I will stop writing tensaishipping. I may post one or two one-shots on the side, but that will be it. I made a resolution to finish this to the end so I could give Isshushipping my priority (not my OTP, but I love it just as much). Don't worry, this has a long way to go before finishing…I think.

And again, _happy birthday_ NU. :B (Yes, finish this six minutes before 12!)


	10. Red specks amongst the blue tide

**A/N**: Wow. I _really_ can't believe I made it this far. I can't believe I'm still ALIVEEEEEE. Other than that, I have to thank everyone for their earnest reviews! Really, it's reviews like what I just got that makes me have the energy to keep this going and remain on FF. Thank you for your time to read my feeble piece of work, to tolerate my ongoing grammatical errors, and for reviewing! But best of all I want announce…I'M SO HAPPY TO BE OUT OF THE HELLHOLE I CALL SCHOOL.  
**Extra note**: I'm gonna_ try_ to be a bit speedier with updates, but I can't promise anything. In July, like around the second week, I'm going to be gone for about a week and a half. I have no idea whether or not I'm going to have access to the interwebz. Regardless I was falling into the brink of a full-on writer's block…O BOI. ._.  
**Special thanks**: -_Perpetual Dreams_- I'll never understand how you can deal with me :'D You are just absolutely amazing. :* Srsly, I can't even begin how grateful I am for you to be checking my mistakes because I sure as hell ain't good enough to do it good. HOLLA GRL, I'M WITH YOU ALL THE WAII TOO.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own Pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kay?

* * *

**Chapter 9**

︵

Everytime I see your smile  
it makes my heart beat fast  
And though it's much too soon to tell  
I'm hoping this will last

x./If the moon fell down tonight - Dear Juliet\.x

* * *

The cottage inside screamed an interior decorating style of "sugar, spice, and everything nice" from bright pink doilies adorning the small tables holding a tray assortment of cookies, handy pokémon treats, and ceramic bowls filled with an assortment of peppermint candies and dark chocolate truffles wrapped in vibrant foil paper. Around the room were several pokémon fanatics interacting with their partners; others were sitting casually on the equally pink variant sofa. Several of the pokémon joined their owner by sleeping either beside or on their trainer's lap. Ruby's pokémon caught sight of the pokémon treats, quickly abandoning their position following the trainer and more enthusiastic to eat rather than idly waiting. Like a weight lifted off his shoulders, Ruby could feel the tension lessen upon entering the cottage—he will not go without admitting the abnormal style of the cottage, especially the portraits of pokémon hanging on the wall posing in all their beautiful glory—he had to muffle his laughter over the speakers playing a chord of classical musical for scenery sake.

Despite all the pink, Ruby situated himself on the overplushed sofa, grinning at the cup of tea a club member beside him offered. Such a small tea cup, its handle encrusted with beady jewels and a yellow protrusion securing the beads – he titled his head, a random realization over the protrusion that decorated the cup was in the shape of a tauros's tail. Amused by the thought, Ruby gingerly took the first sips from the offered drink. Blinking in surprise, he had an expectation of bitter tea most adults drink; his taste buds were invaded with a perfect combination of sitrus and pecha berry: a sweetness he could barely describe, but the taste carried no traces of bitterness. _Chairman, you might be the only person with good taste._

The Chairman offered the bowl of candy at an angle where the truffles were more exposed than the peppermint candies. Ruby would scoff at anyone who would decline chocolate; a pure ambrosia like chocolate is meant to be indulged. Setting the cup down, the scarlet eyes focused on the blue foil, unraveling a small round truffle. Biting inside the gooey center gave him the temptation to lick off the remaining traces of chocolate on his fingers. The Chairman laughed, as if subtly saying, "Eat to your heart's content." Honestly, who was Ruby to decline such an offer? In the back of his mind he was grateful the Chairman had him comfortable enough before he would rant away – and perhaps, Ruby mused, he could have someone else tracking Norman's steps over his search.

"So," Ruby popped another truffle in his mouth, a nervous smile overcoming his disposition, "how do I start?"

The Chairman helped himself to a tea biscuit. "What brings you here?"

"The contest hall," Ruby grabbed a handful of chocolate truffles. "I want to win a ribbon."

The Chairman sipped on his glass of tea, nodding his head in acknowledgement, "Is that so? Is it_ only_ for a ribbon?"

Ruby eyes stared the small elderly man down. He paused thoughtfully before answering, "You're good. It's not because I just want a ribbon, it-it's because…"

The Chairman noticed the child's lips twitching downwards in a pensive frown; he had the foggiest idea based on the facial expression as well as the small facial similarity. "You…are Norman's missing son, Ruby, I presume."

Ruby's eyes widened, the cup he held in his clasped visibly shook from the shudder running through his body. He wondered why he allowed himself to easily think the Chairman could keep everything secretive; there was a fine line between confidentially and reporting the finding of a gym leader's—Norman no less, he intimidated everyone in the League with his short responses, mild temperament, and his unforgiving frown—missing child.

Slowly Ruby shook his head, earning a raspy chuckle from the Chairman's end.

"Why so alarmed? Everything said here stays here!" the Chairman assured.

* * *

Steven switched tactics on his pokémon choice, after weighing the multiple water pokémon on the offense for Aqua's side, his Aggron would receive far too much damage by the time he found the root of Aqua's misconduct in the museum. Metagross cast psychic on the opposing pokémon, sending the creatures flying to their trainer's direction to temporarily suspend the incoming attacks from the other grunts. Cradily sapped the energy of every spotted water pokémon, successfully deflecting the attacks directed at the innocent victims trembling around the corners or concealed behind the museum's artifacts. His blue eyes locked on the staircase to the second floor, he would advance forward with his other pokémon if the grunts weren't attempting to barricade the only entrance with their snarling mightyena baring their sharp canine teeth.

Sparing a wayward glance to his steel arachnid-like pokémon, he reasoned using earthquake all at once but the museum's small space could destroy the artifacts, if not the building will collapse upon everyone: he could never resort to such a tactic if there was a possibility of a casualty, he could never bear the guilt. The shock an earthquake attack could easily lead outside the museum's radius; without doubt Ruby would be alert and search the cause: there was no better assumption the cause would be the former champion's pokémon considering all his pokémon are capable learning earthquake. The last thing he needed to worry about is endangering Ruby once again with Team Aqua, without much effort they could have enough team power to scoop up one child for hostage. _Norman would mutilate me,_ Steven gulped.

A blood-curling shriek brought him back to his senses, his head whipped in the direction of the scream from a teenager trembling in place, her arms crossed in the air from the mightyena rushing in her direction. Metagross was too occupied concentrating its psychic attack on the opposing foes it had no time to react to its trainer hasty sprint; his arms shielded the raven haired teenager from the maws of the black hound, its razor sharp teeth penetrated deep into Steven's suit and into the skin, beady red blood tinted mightyena's yellowish fangs. Steven cringed; it took every cell in his body to remain completely motionless, patiently waiting for the mightyena to relax its jaw to lessen the pain. Its red eyes widened considerably as it yelped, ripping off a piece of his suit and the white button down shirt he wore underneath. The yelp it screeched however dropped the cloth to the floor; the mightyena ran madly in circles over the overwhelming pain of the grayish-black acid simmering its tail.

Cradily was enraged enough to hazardously spout shots of acid around the museum, the grunts, and the mightyena that attacked its trainer. It stopped attacking mindlessly after being roared by Metagross, the narrowed eyes from the metallic arachnid lessened the fuming anger. Steven pried himself away from the teenager and returned to his pokémon side, chuckling he inspected his wound without much worry. "Shit," he said casually, "it hurts." He blew a puff of air on the bloody puncture wounds to distract the burning sensation, he groaned and shook his hand violently, "Ow, ow, ow! _Arceus_ this hurts!" Turning his back, he allowed his pokémon to resume pummeling the Aqua grunt's pokémon while he could concentrate on his wound. A quick realization struck him, _Well damn, there goes my suit. _Sighing in disappointment to the destroyed fabric, Steven cursed under his breath.

Metagross temporarily left the remaining pokémon to Cradily to take it trainers side, "'Gross?"_ 'Are you alright?'_

Steven exposed the torn piece of his suit, "It ripped! Now I have to wait for the next shipment! This is terrible…" he lamented with an equally saddened grimace.

Metagross rolled its eyes. "'Meta…gross…" _'That…Cradily, the fool is fine. I cannot even—'_ Sighing to Steven's rare stupidity, Metagross resumed its task defeating the grunt's pokémon.

The raven haired teenager blew a bubble, amused she securely pocketed away the discarded bloodied cloth in a small plastic baggie. After her bubble popped her fingers traced towards the switch on her earpiece, a distorted static eventually connected her to a line, "It's Marge."

* * *

"He sounds like…quite the father," the Chairman concealed his tone of sarcasm by clearing his throat without a loud and unnecessary cough, although Ruby felt at ease detailing every occurrence—he kept his relationship to Wally a secret, his cheeks would burn a crimson red if he so easily spilled every morsel of his life.

Ruby eyed the leftover truffles nesting besides the peppermint candies, through a self-conscious act he touched his cheeks, his fingers running down the skin for bumps. He seen the terrible cases of acne outbreak while he lived in Johto, considering the more advanced industrialization of Johto to Hoenn there was less of a production of factories producing the chocolate and expanding newly fast-food chains from the rapid demand of moo-moo milk and eatery.

"Rest easy, Norman would have no reason to contact our little club. _I_ have no reason to contact him!"

Ruby earnestly perked a smile, "Thank you."

The Chairman cleared his throat. "So will you be participating in Slateport contest? The contest hall is still accepting last minute participants."

Ruby brought the cup to his mouth before nodding; the Chairman eagerly clapped his hands. "I'll call in for you! The contest begins at nine sharp; within these two days you should finish any last minute preparations for your lovely little darlings!"

He almost spluttered his drink into the air, in place he chugged down the hot liquid and violently coughed to regain the proper air flow. _Two days? This entire voyage almost made me miss the contest completely! _Ruby frantically searched the room with his eyes as if expecting the answers will be clearly found in the clutter of portraits and heart-themed decorations. The Chairman silently scampered to a closet after observing the familiar expression of frantic coordinators, unhooking the lock a clutter of pokémon outfits cramped within tumbled to the floor.

The Chairman pushed aside the outfits that nearly buried him under frills, glitters, and feathery fluff. "Ruby, eyes here!"

Ruby returned his attention to the Chairman; it took a brief second to process the clutter of trendy pokémon outfits cramped within the confides of an embarrassingly small closet. His heart skipped a beat as the scruffy man allowed to take as many pieces as he pleased and create them into newer outfits, by far his imagination ran wild by the unlimited possibilities by the materials on the outfits to customize for his own.

"Can I…really?"

The Chairman nodded. Ruby jumped over the sofa, ransacked the closet, and made short but excited commentary on the material.

* * *

Steven observed the second floor with widened eyes; he expected the floor the be teeming with grunts and pokémon alike to the first floor: the entire area downstairs have been left with tracks of pokémon prints and blasts of water, whether or not he might have to pay for the reparations is beyond him. He mounted off his Metagross, his expression fell as he came to realization of the uncomfortable wetness around his ankles. He knew it was tedious to be overwhelmed by his soaked nylon red socks as well as his getting ruined by Team Aqua's wild hounds. Moodily narrowing his eyes at Metagross—of course Metagross will never understand his childish woes, why bother?—Steven returned his attention to the eerily quiet second floor. The exhibits detailed the pioneering of submarines to several modern replicas of Slateport's rich history in the creations of ships and future models for upcoming projects.

Steven was left questioning Team Aqua's interference in the museum for the first floor instead of the entire museum; down below possessed nothing of high value. His eyes scanned the area, neither this floor could possibly give Team Aqua reason to abruptly harm Slateport's citizens; curiously he walked further to inspect the rest of the museum hidden by the structural panes that concealed several exhibits almost entirely. His blue irises wandered, a speck of brown caught his attention—

"Captain Stern?"

The brunette was concentrated heavily on exhibit; hearing his name called had him turn on his heel. A welcoming smile followed, "Oh, Steven, what brings you here?"

_He hasn't realized Team Aqua's presence downstairs? _"Err…delivery?"

Stern blinked, the sight of the package labeled with a DEVON imprint had his smile rejoiced with flare. "The parts!" he commented excitedly, "This is great! Thank you! With this I could prepare the expedition!"

Steven nodded in acknowledgement as Stern rambled eagerly about the upcoming maiden voyage of the Submarine Explorer 1 to travel route 128's underwater caverns, his eyes drifted towards his Metagross ferociously growling at the stairs. The brief moment Steven almost thought his Metagross has completely lost its sanity, a pack of daring mightyena were pounding on the metallic creature; not far behind, two Aqua grunts circled around the battling pokémon to scan the area for their own priority.

The two grunts exchanged a few inaudible words with one another. One of the grunts approached forward, an arrogant smirk playing his expression, a black gloved drawn out waiting. "Our boss wants those parts," the grunt curled his finger in a hook, repeatedly moving to beckon Stern or Steven to approach, "so give it here."

Steven's eyes dangerously narrowed, he whispered to the flabbergasted Captain to securely find safety amongst the exhibits, behind the grunts he could see Metagross struggling with speedy hounds promptly leaping away from its sturdy legs—Metagross was never the best choice amongst pokémon in close combat that had a type resistance against its psychic abilities; without the use of earthquake Metagross was left vulnerable, enduring one attack after another from the dark elemental hounds. Metagross' large red eyes stole a glance at its worried trainer, _This is nothing!_

Metagross' jaws crunched down on one of the unsuspecting mightyena's tail; the black creature snarled in pain, its canine teeth weakly tried to gnaw at the metallic legs to have its tail released from the powerful maws. The female grunt left on the sidelines curiously drew her attention at the commotion; her jaw left hanging ajar as the mightyena was spun in the air like a rag doll before violently thrown across the room into the back of the arrogant grunt member. Steven blinked at the spectacle, unsure whether to be alarmed or highly proud of his pokémon.

The grunt sprawled on the floor groaned, he used his elbow to prop the weight of his own and the fainted mightyena lying motionless on his back, "Let it never be said…urgh…I didn't give you a chance…" he craned his neck to the female grunt, "Flood this place for the carvanha!" the grunt barked.

Metagross and Steven simultaneously gawked at the two Aqua grunts. _Flood…?_

* * *

Marge nonchalantly chewed on her bubblegum, her black orbs gazing the stream of water pouring down the stairs in a steady flow; seeing the grunts exhausted from being attacked upon impact from Cradily left them exhausted to budge from their position that left them sprawled on the floor or rather leaning on the corner of the room with their fainted pokémon near their side. The pace of the water flow rapidly increased; within four minutes the water reached close to her knees, and as she ripped her gaze away from the grunts fishing a pokéball out of their belt she took the opportunity to jump over the receptionist desk.

_This time I'm not sticking around,_ Marge thought. She knew Aqua's tactic when cornered; it was a cheap tactic that left her and her partner in an onset of unnecessary trouble and the new water routes were quick to produce a set of wailmers. Assuming at least one grunt had such a team, given a few extra minutes, the museum could flood entirely. Sneaking past the double doors, Marge seethed at the familiar sight of the yellow dorsal fins; she bolted the doors behind her. _Good luck, Stone_, she hummed bemusedly._ It'll be one less pest to worry about._

"So…any reason I hadda get a basket of berries?"

Her partner, Mitch, was a laughable sight awkwardly clutching a ribbon basket of berries in comparison to his husky appearance. Without a word she yanked the basket from his hand. The berries appeared very edible despite the poor quality; the mulch used had not let the fruit advance for their renowned tender taste. Not a single soul would ever be capable of detailing the quality of berries, the cultivating care that every berry needed for their unique nectar to be at its finest. She shook her head rigorously. _Those were the old days. Get over it._

"Marge? _Hellooo_?" Mitch waved his hand in her face, poorly trying to recapture her attention. Marge swatted his hand away as her reminiscent childhood days were immediately cut short; scowling at her partner she turned away from him.

The cottage door swung open, Ruby waved farewell to the Chairman as he departed in the direction of the Center – his pokémon tucked away in their pokéballs

"Wait here, I have one more left to do in Slateport."

Mitch shrugged his shoulder, "Hurry it up. Boss man wants us to devise the plan to snag the meteorite. The gym leaders have been crawling around Meteor Falls like—"

Completely disregarding her partner's sentence, she cleared her throat in an attempt to sound like a gentle lady as much as it pained her; she bit down the urge to curse under her breath from the townspeople shoving her aside in a panicked hoard from the awareness of Team Aqua's presence. Stifling a laugh at the absent cluelessness Ruby possessed compared to the town, it plunged her heart deeply of the peaceful life she wasted in exchange for a position in Team Magma. Marge gently tapped on Ruby's shoulder, her hands pushing forward, offering the basket.

"Would you like these berries? They're great for pokéblocks," she added sweetly. _This better be worth it._

* * *

_Beautiful. From surfing to this._

Steven nervously struggled against the frozen bonds trapping his ankles from a school of fearsome carvanha; their predatorial instincts caused the fish pokémon to slowly circle around the former champion, and to one another they vocalized grunts anticipating a fresh prey. Throughout the havoc the female grunt's wailmer used ice beam at his ankles and hands; he could barely fit his frozen hand inside his pockets to reach for a pokéball. From the background, the swarm of carvanha covered Metagross's body entirely.

Metagross would twitch occasionally to toss aside the carvanha munching on its exterior; despite being his strongest and reliable childhood pokémon partner, Metagross could only withstand so much damage. Steven assumed Cradily must have fainted or passed out from exhaustion. Metagross was weakening under the weight and force of the carvanha; he was surrounded by fishes known for their infamous bite and craving for fresh food. It was all a futile effort as he tried to lift his legs from the cold bonds; the icicles formed around his ankles had pricked his skin throughout his fruitless struggle.

The grunt spun a pokéball on his forefinger, "We could have avoided this, y'know?"

A trail of carvanha passed Steven to circle around Stern trembling in a corner, the package clutched tightly to his chest.

"You're lucky you're not up against our admins; they are way tougher than what we're capable!" The grunt sighed in disappointment, "Our boss Archie considered you a threat? What a joke."

The female grunt stepped up, "Let's wrap this up. Attack, carvanha!"

The school of carvanha echoed a battle cry in unison, they produced their weight in the strength of their fin to leap in the air; their menacing sharp jaws opened to strike and maul the defenseless former champion. Steven clenched his eyes shut, readily prepared for the maws of carvanha to sink down into his skin; whether or not he would live through the attack was constantly plaguing the last of his thoughts. Going through the worst case scenarios of last apologies, Steven daringly open his eyes from the agonizingly long wait.

The carvanha were malicious for their intent to quickly crunch down on their prey; Steven assumed he would already be experiencing the worst pain in his life in less than three seconds. Aggron escaped from its ball, the shine on its tail dying down from an iron tail whipped against several fainted carvanha thrown across the room. Aggron growled at the remaining swarm, opening its jaw projected a bright spherical form of concentrated energy facing the direction of violent fish creatures.

Steven panicked, "N-No! Aggron! Don't use hype—"

* * *

_It's that girl from the beach…_

Ruby accepted the basket; he engaged small talk with Marge on the topic of pokéblocks. Marge found herself swaying away from her objective and offered advice on the mixtures of berries that have the best enhancements; she found herself laughing at the sudden change in his party's appearance after Marshtomp joined awkwardly into Ruby's elegant group.

"It's fine, I got use to it. Really though, thanks for the berr—"

A beam struck out of the museum; water streamed from the hole created that blasted a large quantity of carvanha and two wailmers. Their mid air suspension dropped several down to the ground, others landed on the patches of flowers adorning the rims of houses.

Marge and Ruby stared at the destruction absentmindedly.

"I think I'll be going now…" Marge piped.

Ruby waved her farewell; he shook his head to avoid his judgment to inspect the museum. _Walk away, Ruby, walk away and pretend you didn't see anything. Steven went in there; he must have got out while I was inside the cottage. Yeah, that's right…_

* * *

"…hyper beam…" Steven finished pathetically. He hung his head low in disbelief.

_If I knew this would have happen, I would have used earthquake sooner._

Metagross shook off the carvanha hit by the impact of hyper beam – they remained safe by clamping their jaws on its blunt joints. Although visible scratches covered its blue body, it reassured Steven of its overall condition with a soft grunt. The two Aqua grunts backed away defensively, avoiding the occasional carvanha that flew in their direction from Aggron's iron tail.

"I ask for some parts, not a scene."

All eyes turned towards the speaker. Archie nudged away the fainted carvanha with the tip of his boot, his face scrunched up in repulsion to the disarray conducted by his underlings. The glint in Archie's eyes was played with an endless amount of amusement as his sight was connected with the glory of the former champion of Hoenn being trapped within ice; a hardy chuckle Archie could barely contain escaped his lips. The man's laughter slowly died down—Steven sighed in reassurance, the mockery displayed in Archie's boasting laughter made something inside almost snap at the Aqua boss—Aggron's claws glowed a silvery-white aura, essentially threatening to injure Archie with metal claw if he dared to advance forward .

Archie pulled his hands up defensively and jestingly, "Protective, aren't we?"

The blunette absently shrugged, "From here on your safety is beyond my control. Test my Aggron's patience, I _dare_ you." Steven said darkly, the momentary pause let the perky grin on Archie's face twitch downwards.

Archie backed down reluctantly; subtly he ordered the two speechless grunts to depart first. "You win for now…but we will expand the sea!"

Aggron broke the frozen bonds around Steven's ankle with the swift impact of its iron tail attack; plainly he shook his ankles to brush aside the numbing sensation around his toes.

"Keep playing hero, Stone; I'll make sure you regret it _dearly_." Archie cast Steven a final wayward stare before departing down the flight of stairs with his squad of Aqua grunts.

Comically after Steven confirmed Stern's safety, Aggron threw its trainer over its shoulder and proceeded to descend down the stairs with Metagross quickly following suit, its red eyes contently observing Steven having a fit over being pokémon-handled – Cradily was safely tucked away back inside its pokéball.

_'He is still quite the raging handful…'_ Metagross blatantly remarked.

Aggron rolled its eyes, _'You're telling me. Same foolishness, different day.'_

"Guys…I can walk…"

Both Metagross and Aggron disregarded his complaints.

* * *

By a stroke of luck, Ruby received the keys to the last available room in the Center; considering the upcoming contest had a set of limited presentations throughout the region, contest events were scarce so townsfolk and travelers would make the trip to witness the event. Regulations in the contest halls frequently change in the span of few years for different regions, the integration of the events traveled to Johto in his last years living there: Johto had more contest events in a year than Hoenn ever had: opportunity was essentially everything. The time limit of forty-two hours left him uneasy; the clothes racked on his arm, the basket in his other hand – Ruby was questioning whether he could have his preparations accounted for before the deadline. Inside the Center had an abundant amount of trainers, travelers, the injured…it came to no surprise the line for treating pokémon was agonizingly long.

To calm his stress Ruby made a beeline around grumbling trainers to the snack machine. In other scenarios, he would search for real fool instead of falling into the temptation for salty snacks the vending machine offered. The chocolate truffles temporarily satisfied his sweet tooth but as a trainer-coordinator as the rest of the Hoenn region…he had so little pokémon dollars it was pitiful. Retrieving the bag from the vending machine, Ruby spun in his heel to fetch the items he momentarily left on a chair. The basket clung to his wrist, the clothes were thrown back on his arm, slowly the scarlet eyed casually popped the snack in his mouth—

His expression fell as the automatic doors to the Center opened; others stared as much as he did witnessing a grown man lying on an Aggron's shoulder and a bored Metagross following behind. Those who paid attention to the sight drifted back to their own business; Ruby hesitantly approached the pokémon from behind.

Steven's groaning was cut short; sheepishly he waved at Ruby with his still frozen hand, "Hey there, Ruby. What floor is our room?"

Ruby's eyes twitched, "Second floor…room fifty…why are you…" The child briefly flicked his eyes at his own hands, shivered, and looked back at Steven. "And your hands…? Steven, what the _hell_ were you _doing_?"

Metagross nudged Ruby with its head; it dropped its weight to the floor to gesture to the child to situate itself on its body. Ruby blinked, whispered a 'thank you,' and awkwardly sat on the center of the metallic arachnid's head. The hallways were wide enough for Aggron and Metagross to freely move about; the elevator could never withstand the weight of all four—nor could they accommodate the space for a wide Metagross and heavy Aggron—eventually Metagross used its psychic abilities to bring all four members to the second floor. Ruby stared the flight of stairs that were also available. _Who am I kidding? Everyone likes the short way._

Ruby found it oddly comfortable sitting on Metagross; it was not exactly luxurious as a plushed cushion but it was enough for Ruby to lie on. "Metagross, want a snack? I'm pretty sure it's edible for pokémon too," he offered by waving the bag.

Steven slyly smirked, "Continue eating, Ruby. Big, mean, and grumpy only likes pokémon brand food."

Metagross scoffed,_ 'Mean? Grumpy? And I am not particular with my food!'_

Aggron mused on,_ 'Oh Steven, you couldn't be any more right!'_

Ruby was lost to the interactions shared between Metagross and Aggron, shrugging his shoulders he casually munched on his snacks.

* * *

"Later we'll get you to Nurse Joy, though the potion should remedy most of your injuries. Get some rest, you too Aggron." Ruby explained. He was told Cradily would require Joy's help by Steven. The two steel type pokémon took up a corner to rest—Steven offered to return them inside their pokéballs. Both creatures gave him a look—Ruby discarded the potion before returning to Steven's side. He inspected the ice on the blunette's hands, the clear crystal revealed patches of white discoloration around the tips of the fingers.

"At least you got a minor frostbite. If this kept on for hours, your fingers could have gotten black and gross," Ruby's brows knit together as he splashed hot water on a rag, wiping away the drippings around Steven's wrist. Removing several shards of ice embedded inside the skin gave Ruby the most difficulty; his fingers bleed from the pointed icicles pricking his skin. Aggron could remove the frozen bond from Steven's hands with metal claw. The pokémon refused to do so because its powers could penetrate the ice easily; it could also ultimately crush Steven's hands in the process.

"Ruby, I'm hungry…" Steven complained. Rapidly he was growing bored watching the ice melt away from his hands. When his patience ran thin his appetite intensified. "My wallet is my pocket. Get me food please?"

Ruby sighed, "I'll get you noodles. You need something warm." Fetching the wallet, the child stepped out.

Sure enough, Steven had never intently watch ice melt like he did now; he could not bring himself to disturb his pokémon's sleep for his boredom and without much of an option, he waited for Ruby's return. He kicked away his shoes, allowing his ice cold toes to wiggle in the fresh air flowing from the open window; silently he prayed his toes did not suffer any discoloration: the nightmare of having black toes falling off was definitely_ not_ an attractive sight. The ice surrounding his hands did not melt far enough to have the perfect point to punch in the buttons of the television remote; truthfully being surrounded by the little amount of water in the museum reminded him of his surfing incident with Brawly.

Steven paled, _Never. Again. _Looking at the basin his hands was submerged in, the once clear water was hazing in a familiar red tint. Steven raised his wrist to inspect the wound the mightyena left. _Oh_ now_ you start bleeding again._

_"Oh, Brendan, you're here."_

…_I just realized he weaseled his way out of my question last time. Who's Brendan?_

Ruby anti-climatically entered the room with a large bowl of warm ramen noodles, he failed to notice Steven's gaze as he shut the door behind him with the heel of his foot. Briefly, he hovered over Steven to inspect the water. Upon finding the red discoloration, Ruby placed the bowl of soup beside the former champion to depart inside the bathroom to refill the water basin. Once Ruby returned to place Steven's frozen hands inside the newer basin of water, he began twirling the fork around the noodles.

Steven chuckled, "Boy, what would I do without you?"

The steam covered the coordinator's blushing face; Ruby opened his mouth but closed it when the words were caught in his throat. He could never admit it aloud: having Steven appreciate his company really had something inside him giddy. He needed the moment more than ever after listening to Briney's story of the relationship Steven had with Wallace. He enjoyed having the one he adored so much having to rely on him. Ruby decided to hold his questions after Steven properly ate – a budding smile overcame his features blowing away the steam from the noodles; it was hard enough to keep control of his control when Steven opened him mouth to be fed.

Ruby felt overly conscious if his heartbeat could be heard; it was already hammering in his ears. There was a certain excitement when he was granted the opportunity to wipe away the running soup based fluid that dribbled from either side of Steven's mouth. The heat spread all around Ruby's face; he could barely find a plausible excuse to leave Steven alone for more than five minutes or until his face regained its natural cream white skin tone.

Drawing in a sharp breathe of air, Ruby set the bowl of food aside.

"Steven…there's something I…want to say. I think…"

Metagross and Aggron pried an eye open.

Steven slurped at the noodle drooping from his mouth. "Who's Brendan?" he asked innocently.

Metagross and Aggron closed their eyes once again.

A pause rolled by.

"Feed yourself," Ruby snapped. He tried to sound angry. If anything he was bursting in laughter on the inside how the former champion unintentionally ruined the mood for him.

"No, please! I'm still hungry and…" he lifted his hands, "…and this ice hasn't melted off yet! I'm starting to feel my fingers. Arceus, it itches and hurts."

Ruby shrugged, "Feel the wrath of being frostbitten; you totally deserve it."

Turning his back at Steven, Ruby giggled silently._ Yeah, this definitely wasn't the right moment._ Looking at the clutter of previous used pokémon outfits, Ruby pensively thought out several ideas for the contest._ Time to get to work._

Steven pouted; he tried waving his frozen hands to capture the boy's attention. "_Ruby_, my _food_…"

* * *

**A/N**: For all those who don't know/don't remember, Marge is the manga name for one of the Magma admins, Courtney is the game equivalency name. Tabitha is Marge's partner but also goes under the main series in the manga as Mitch. And you know what? I can't help but think this chapter sucked hard. (I also decided to follow the rule of the no-plural usage for pokémon. Ex: [many] pikachu to pikachus. ._.)


	11. The Flawed and the Imperfect

**A/N**: The two days period thing was a coincidence from the previous chapter (it was planned as three days ._.) to now, so here's my attempt of adding the last ounce of fluff for all the possible (10% possible, 90% definite) angst coming up. CORRECTION - so much for fluff. It was suppose to happen, but it ended like this. There was suppose to be something else, but it didn't fit quite right so I'm leaving it for the next chapter.  
**Extra notes**: IF IT WASN'T FOR_ Perpetual Dreams_, I WOULD HAVE NO INSPIRATION TO EVEN TYPE ANYTHING JUST TO CHECK IT LATER. I'M THAT TERRIBLY LAZY. orz Thank you~ And you always do fine at editing, you deserve a breather. ;D (And I just want to mention that metang, according to the pokédex entry, evolves from the joining of two beldums. But in the episode (Saved by the Beldum) there was no such thing: a metang was evolved from a single beldum. I'll follow the anime logic! And I realized in the episodes that some children younger than 10 engaged in pokémon battles regardless, so yeah.)  
**Warning**: The nude. Oh no.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 10  
**

︵

He's everything you want  
He's everything you need  
He's everything inside of you  
That you wish you could be  
He says all the right things  
At exactly the right time

x./Vertical Horizon - Everything you want\.x

* * *

_"Mr. Stone, I feel maybe a poochyena would be a more…_appropriate _choice, perhaps an electrike, o-or a whismur! Y-Yes, say the word and I'll go into the field and capture one for your child!" the secretary urged, his eyes casting an apprehensive stare at the pokémon hovering beside his superior. "This—this_ beldum_ is rather useless unless evolved; how would it protect him? The school children have more, err…friendly-looking pokémon at their age."_

_**Useless**__._

_Nervously, the secretary approached the levitating blue creature_, _clearing his throat and pushing his glasses he continued, "This pokémon is clearly incapable of providing the affection your son will need. Beldum cannot properly express its emotions like other pokémon, only with its own kind. Point being: this beldum is useless through and through."_

_**Useless**__._

_Beldum hovered slowly at the edge of Mr. Stone's desk, admitting it could recognize the authoritative figure including the words spouted from the secretary's mouth; it absorbed the bias assumption of its kind without flinching. Averting its gaze from the secretary to the floor, it remained silent under the harsh words – even speaking its name, like all pokémon did alike whether injured or rejoiced, posed no counterargument. Beldum silently waited for one of the two humans to willingly release it amongst its own species, to return as another beldum released because of its inability to be of use to trainers._

_"Is that so? Well then…" Mr. Stone rose from his chair—he silently laughed at the secretary relieving a sigh assuming the better scenario—heading for the door. The secretary followed suit, struck with dumbfounded surprise as Mr. Stone opened the door, an eight-year old Steven Stone waiting on the other side. The secretary stepped aside as Mr. Stone and Steven exchanged a few words to one another, the secretary's face fell completely as Mr. Stone scooped the beldum resting idly on his desk._

_"I'm counting on you to raise this pokémon well." Mr. Stone affectionately stroked the round-like head; he favored the beldum despite its hard rigid body – it matters not the pokémon wasn't made of warm flesh like many other pokémon. "Make it strong, Steven."_

_Steven nodded vigorously, lifting the beldum in the air, a sheepish smile playing on his lips. "We're gonna be the best of friends!"_

**…**_**Friends…?**_

—

_The first night out of its habitat nearly startled Beldum's world; it had no qualms returning to its environment from the secretary's persuasive argument against its kind being inferior in reliability. It hovered aimlessly in Steven's room, slightly startled when the child's white shirt and red suspenders landed right on top of its diminutive body – it was all in good fun Beldum assumed. Its eye frantically searched the foreign room for anything familiar of its own area; the roof offered no tree branches or structured crevices found in the land of the rough terrains to hook its claws into for much needed sleep. Gazing at the darken horizon petrified Beldum into a state of anxiety; the surrounding land provided not the slightest speck of pokémon in sight, the geographical structure of the land mass showed no familiarity to its homeland._

_Steven slipped on his silk-white pajamas, his towel drying off the dripping drops of water falling from the tips of his hair. Exhausted from his day at school, he wanted nothing more than to steer away from the television and quickly fall into bed. Beldum absently laid on the floor awkwardly, its claws clenching and unclenching in search of something to hook itself onto. Offering his new pokémon a lopsided grin, Steven scooped up his Beldum from the floor, laying the blue creature beside him on his cushioned pillow._

_Normally he would always sleep alone, but the excitement having an out-of-place companion compelled Steven to flatten the pillow to provide the absolute comfort for Beldum. He would never admit how unusual it felt to be curling beside a steel-pokémon—unlike a poochyena, Beldum were far from cuddly ball of fur—that essentially communicated in robotic grunts, without much more thought he brought the blanket forward to tuck Beldum in._

_Beldum blinked at the child, never had it experienced the earnest attempt of being taken as a pokémon. Never had it experienced the consideration taken for it to sleep _comfortably,_ otherwise it would grapple onto the edge of the window sill in an attempt to normalize in its new home. Steven noticed the strange wayward stare his pokémon gave him; he perked a beaming smile before bursting in a fit of childish giggles. The loud vocal levels emitted from the laugh made Beldum flinch: one new experience after another overwhelmed Beldum for one night._

_"It's strange, right? A transition from the rough terrain to city life, I mean."_

_Beldum did not utter a word._

_"Do you miss your friends?"_

_Beldum continued to stare at the talkative child._

_Steven fumbled his fingers around the folding of his blanket, "I…really don't have many friends. My father is always in his office, his employees are just _there_. It gets boring playing games by yourself, you know? No one…to…to…talk to…" The little amount of consciousness was drifting away, "G'night…Beldum…"_

_Sure enough the room was restored back to its peaceful hush; the only sound resonating in the air was Steven's light breathing and occasional childish murmurs: 'It's my lava cookie… nnngh.' Beldum shifted uneasily around the blanket; the window fluttered open upon the heavy breeze entering the room, the late night shuffling caused Steven's end of the blanket to leave his body as he neared towards the edge of the king-size bed. Its crimson eye noticed its master shivering—if it was capable of sighing, it would have long to do so—leaving the comfort of the pillow, Beldum gripped the blanket with its claws and brought it forward to cover Steven's curled-up body. The crest projecting from its body was used to gently push Steven away from the edge of the bed: all limbs were spread out hazardously as Steven quickly got comfortable._

_The window created an annoying racket; the gust of the wind forced the two window doors open then closing repeatedly upon the shifting winds. It took a few seconds for Beldum to get the proper grip on the handle lock to close the window appropriately. The moonlight projected far into the room, the luminescent light reached the backpack thrown lazily in the corner of the room, its content spilling out. Never will Beldum understand the impulsive urge it had to sort through the strange items, its claws dropping the pens, pencils, and flash cards but managed to shove the contents back inside the pockets. The two textbooks that were slowly sliding out was sorted to fit neatly inside the carrier and, upon discovery, the massive weight of two textbooks brought Beldum's hovering body down easily in its grip._

_With nothing left to do, Beldum wormed its way under the blanket to the pillow, its crimson eye slowly closing from sleep._

_"Bel-dum." _

_**Good night, Steven.**_

—

_Beldum compromised Steven's schedule swiftly—it was informed days like 'Saturday' and 'Sunday' are not 'school' days—during the span of the weekend, Beldum effortlessly learned one thing after another. At one point in the morning Beldum used take down on the toaster, the alarming noise and the food piece that popped out of its openings startled the pokémon silly. Steven eyed the dented toaster with an indescribable expression; he inspected the corners and ruled it completely broken when the toaster would reject his frozen chocolate waffles. From there Beldum learned a term, 'mischief,' when an employee entered the cafeteria without noticing the pair. _

_A few seconds later Mr. Stone entered with a desire for toast and jam._

_Steven and Beldum inched away from the corporate president; Mr. Stone blinked stupidly at the broken toaster._

_"Who did this?" Mr. Stone asked._

_Steven pointed accusingly at the innocent employee munching on an oran muffin; with his father's attention redirected towards someone else Steven grabbed Beldum and sprinted straight out the kitchen door. Beldum stared curiously at Steven, the child giggling away madly. "Shh! It's between you and me now, 'kay?"_

_Beldum was able to experience the joys of being with a human child, it would participate in Steven's ongoing games—at one instance it was subjected to a staring contest with its master: Steven lost terribly in the end—and would accompany the boy to school. Unlike the nighttime ramblings, or Steven's continuously playful mood, Beldum could finally sympathize with the bitter loneliness Steven felt in school. From chatty to absolutely quiet unless spoken to, the two were completely ostracized from the other children playing with sweeter appealing pokémon._

_The weekends became eventful for Beldum; the pair was inseparable with one another regardless of the oddity: a child and a beldum for a pokémon. Steven became more talkative with Beldum, and Beldum would respond kindly despite the only tone it could utter was its name. But it was enough for Steven; his pokémon would just levitate beside him without protest. _

_Children being children always followed an eventual turmoil. _

_A normal day of school: the children finished their individual studies, a group of four approached Steven and Beldum with sneering expressions. The pokémon with the four children consisted of a lotad, a surskit, a zigzagoon, and a poochyena innocently taking their master's side. Steven attempted his best to ignore their mocking laughs and rude points. One of the children freely spoke about, "Is it fun hanging out with a floating rock?"_

_Beldum watched them expectantly, its claws were unconsciously clenching._

_Steven glared daggers at the children. "Leave Beldum alone."_

_"All it knows is take down! You should find yourself a better pokémon that's not so…eck," the little girl cringed at Beldum, "And not so useless."_

—

_"They don't know what they're talking about! We have a weeklong break, so forget about them." Steven rambled, the pair decided to take a detour through Rustboro's beach before heading home._

_Steven kicked the sand angrily, he spun in his heel at the exceedingly loud thumping noise accompanied by an uneasy rustling of leaves. To his surprise Beldum was mindlessly using take down on a tree, its state of mind having no intention of stopping anytime soon either. Steven tried to reassure his Beldum with kind words but the pokémon clearly ignored its master protesting cries._

_**Useless. Useless. Useless.**_

_Steven gripped onto Beldum's body, his heels sinking into the sand being dragged from Beldum's force to continue its outrage attacking the tree. "Quit it!" he cried again, although his Beldum's strength overpowered his own, the grip around the metal body slipped, Steven tumbled forward landing face first on the gritty minerals. The floating pokémon's reaction was stalled gazing in horror at its master expense, the child's cracked voice evident fighting back tears._

_Beldum zipped straight into the maze of tall trees._

—

_The crestfallen expression Steven wore the entire week created an awful amount of worriment for his son, Mr. Stone found himself skipping his work temporarily to keep his son company. When he offered to play Steven's game console with him, he was politely rejected from doing so, and at one point Mr. Stone had conceived a plan to search for another beldum in the wild to replace Steven's missing one. On Sunday night Mr. Stone held a tray of freshly made cookies and a glass of warm milk for a light nighttime snack. Opening the door open to greet his son—_

_Being Sunday night, Steven would return to school without his pokémon for the event he talked so much with Beldum of an enjoyable pokémon battle amongst the children being held after returning from the week-long break. Mr. Stone could hear his child's hiccupping sobs – Mr. Stone could buy Steven anything he wanted, but he knew his words and his money could not offer what Steven truly wanted the most._

_His dear friend._

—

_"You could borrow a pokémon, my boy. What do you say to-"_

_Steven stirred the bowl of oats, blue eyes deprived of the usual content glint. "No thanks."_

_"How about I take you to school?"_

_Steven shook his head._

_"Would you like to say home?"_

_Steven hopped off the chair, "I'm leaving."_

_And the day went by excruciatingly slow._

_Everyone gathered outside the school, student against student in a friendly pokémon battle, several citizens stopped to witness the little pokémon facing each other. The four children gathered around Steven—honestly he just wanted to shrink into a corner and be forgotten completely by everybody for just today—the children mockingly teased the absence of his steel-type pokémon._

_"So where's the tin? Got scared?"_

_Steven adverted his blue eyes, "Beldum is…"_

_The girl in the group screamed loudly, the rest of the children looked at her curiously before joining the shouts. Steven turned to view the sight that scared the bunch enough to tremble in spot, in full glory a metang hovered over Steven, a ball of dark energy gathering in its hand. The ball of purple energy shot down at the girl first, it roared a battle cry at the evolved pokémon shaking beside their trainers._

_Steven quivered away from the blue pokémon. "Beldum? You…you evolved?"_

_Metang offered its hand to its gawking master, Steven accepted the support to rise from the ground. Dusting off the residue from the Rustoboro's tiles, Steven's spirits lifted the frown he once wore twitched upwards in a sheepish smile. Metang softly pushed Steven aside, with disinterest it flung the three pokémon in uncoordinated directions with its psychic abilities, a glow radiated in Metang's glimmering-white fist, mercilessly striking the mightyena with comet punch. Steven watched the scene in awe, normally he would be against Metang's rash decision to be attacking…_

_But those four kids needed to learn the consequences of underestimating a pokémon. Mr. Stone was devastated by his son's suspension from the random outbreak of his pokémon's "inability to control its actions," he used Steven's age as excuse not to scowl at the little bundle of reawakened happiness evident in son's smile. Mr. Stone reasoned with the situation, the last thing he needed was his son throwing a fit. In the end, Mr. Stone overlooked Steven's action, "As punishment, Steven my boy, you are not to go anywhere near the desserts for a week. Do I make myself clear?"_

_Steven saluted jestingly, "Crystal clear, sir!"_

_Mr. Stone watched his son and his evolved pokémon enter the elevator. "I'm too soft for my own good," he begrudgingly admitted._

—

_Their victories continued far and wide, the boyish fist pumping continued in a few occasions once the eight-year old Steven Stone went straight into adulthood. There were a few moments Steven would release his childish attitude openly to Metagross: his most precious, precious best friend. Through thick and thin, Metagross would always be the one to turn the tables when a gym battle would look bleak, in his late night strolls Steven would continue to explicitly ramble the first thing on his mind. Just when Metagross believed not a single soul would consider it a pokémon choice as a beldum, Steven completely diminished its negative outlook after being housed like true family. It may no longer be suited to sleep in the same bed because of the weight of an average metagross, but that never stopped Steven making sure his friend was comfortable._

_Truth be told, it could have never protected Steven as a beldum. Now as an intimating metagross it was fully capable of being entirely useful. Metagross used its body to stop falling rubble in caves from injuring Steven, and if its master was too exhausted it would be the one to carry Steven back to a Center, and Metagross would _always _challenge the wild pack of pokémon dwelling in caves that wish to harm Steven._

_No one ever said it was useless again._

_But it knew Steven disregarding strength as a necessity while it was a beldum; he only wanted a friend. _

_Metagross granted that wish fully._

—

_Steven crouched down Metagross' level. "This is it. From here it's us against the Champion."_

_Metagross nodded; raising one leg it clenched its claws. Steven grinned, pumping his fist with Metagross._

* * *

Ruby welcomed Steven entering the room with a hefty package of expensive-looking pokémon food; he set the bag and wiped the beads of sweat running down his forehead. Taking a seat on the hardwood floor, Steven doled out food portions in six metallic bowls—every Pokémon Center had cabinets of bowls for trainers to feed their pokémon—except with one bowl he placed on his lap to pluck away the red pieces of pokémon food_. _Ruby followed the subtle sign to release Steven's pokémon from their pokéballs; the beam of lights ejected the healthy pokémon except for Cradily barely holding onto its strength. Cradily ignored its pain completely for an overwhelming amount of hunger rumbling in its tract.

Each pokémon, excluding Metagross, munched into their bowls. Ruby could not suppress the urge to ask, "What are you doing?"

Steven lifted his focused gaze from the food to Ruby, "Oh. Remember how I told you Metagross is picky? I wasn't lying," he said with all seriousness. Steven lifted his hand to show to the red kibble piece, "These are made from the combination of cheri and figy berries. Grumpy really dislikes anything spicy. Let me show you!" he grinned slyly.

Metagross directly avoided the red kibble piece Steven tried forcing on it, opening its mouth projected a low-powered shadow ball at its trainer. Steven managed to duck in the nick of time, flicking away the kibble. He smiled at Ruby, "See? Metagross gets antsy if someone tries to feed him spicy food."

Ruby pointed at brown pieces, "Those are made of?"

Steven shrugged, "Grumpig?"

Ruby could hardly imagine a grumpig's meat would be a high priced delicacy for pokémon but he digressed from the topic. Magikarp are the most useless pokémon in existence, although on his family restaurant dining nights, a plate of marinated magikarp meat priced a hefty ninety-eight pokémon dollars for a small plate's worth. Ruby could plainly see the distinguishable small white blotches forming around the blunette's fingers from the frostnip; carrying the weight of the pokémon food strained his fingers to a reddish discoloration. Three hours passed after the ice on Steven's hand thoroughly melted away. The wound from the mightyena would bleed profusely if Steven flexed his wrist the wrong way.

He swerved the bowl around to inspect any leftover remains of the red pieces of pokémon food; Metagross seemed content to finally join the rest to eats its share. Along the line Steven groaned how it was only the first serving: his party massively large, Ruby figured one bowl would not satisfy the hunger of his pokémon except for the slim Skarmory. Ruby never seen the sixth member of Steven's party, and quite frankly he was rather disturbed the eyes of the Armaldo extended from the side of its head. Ruby spared a glance at Claydol's bowl, it was a floating doll for a pokémon that could barely stay put for more than five minutes, and yet the bowl was completely empty spare for several crumbs.

_When did it…?_

Skarmory finished second, for a teasing amount of fun it dipped its beak into Aggron's food. Aggron snarled, with one clawed hand it pawed the pesky metallic bird away, with another it drew its bowl closer to its body and out-of-sight from Skarmory. '_Get away from my food or the next helping on the list is grilled skarmory_.'

Skarmory cawed, exposing its wings at an attempt for an intimidating appearance, _'Bring it!'_

_'Behave.' _Metagross sternly ordered.

Steven chuckled, "Now, now. There's more food in the bag, no need to bully each other for it." He doled out seconds of the pokémon food. "And sorry, Aggron, there's no iron around for miles. You'll get to dine properly much later."

Skarmory tiredly yawned, toying with its fellow member for a brief moment left it nesting in place for a rest. It was rather amusing, Ruby would admit, having to watch Steven's pokémon act like a compact family. A fleeting smile painted his expression: Steven had no intention of detailing his side adventure or the result that caused him an injury and frozen hands. Despite the time spent together after the various different encounters of rough turns and wrinkles, the clear signs of worriment and regards towards one another, Ruby felt his heart clench as Steven remained as secretive as ever.

It was an annoying factor to bear, but Ruby had softened completely under Steven's care to take help him in return. Sea water was drenched upon Steven on his account after desperately avoiding the "Brendan" topic with Brawly present, a plentiful amount of water coated his suit today from whatever event Steven could have possibly partook. Being in a Center finally had its perks; there was always a shower in every room. Scampering inside the bathroom, Ruby filled the tub with warm water, occasionally dipping his hand for the right temperature.

"Claydol, put Aggron's bowl down this instant! No, no, _no_! Close that mouth of yours, Aggron, you are _not_ to use hyper beam in this room!"

Moderately disturbed by the outburst amongst trainer and pokémon, Ruby was certainly relieved his pokémon had a strong amount of sanity left inside. If he had a pokémon that could learn hyper beam and use it freely, ignoring all the possible consequences, Ruby would hesitate to have the pokémon at all. He poked his head outside of the door in case one of the two bickering pokémon possessed a ranging attack like shadow ball, "Bath's ready. You got the smell of sea still on you."

_My shipment for a new suit comes tomorrow, how can I avoid this?_ Steven mused thoughtfully. He was never the world's best liar but if the odor of the sea still lingered his body, more than anything he wanted to get rid of the scent with a fresh bath. Truthfully he wanted to wash his neglected hair but his hands pulsed in pain from the strain on his fingers carrying the heavy bag of pokémon food and the pale tinted skin nearly had him clawing away at the unrelenting itch. The line of excuses ended in a complete failure, finally dusting off the crumbs of pokémon food from his lap he departed away from his quarreling pokémon – he hoped by the time he was done they would have settled the matter peacefully. Worst-case scenario is a dent in his wallet to repair another hole in a wall in the Center rather than the tarnished museum.

_Aggron, please control your temper._

"Can you do me a favor? My hands are murdering me; wash my hair please?"

Ruby fished out a towel from the bathroom cabinet; neatly he placed it on the rack for convenient reach. "What? Oh. Umm, sure?" Peeling off the long white bandages from his fingers to be tossed in the waste basket, Ruby gave a dark grimace at the small blotches of blood staining the white. Breaking off the ice from Steven's hands was no easy task, no serious icicles grazed Ruby badly, only numerous minor cuts and prickles on his fingers. Spinning on his heel after rinsing his hands with soap, Ruby plainly looked forward without much expectation to a relatively simple request. He heard the bathroom door close—

Ruby's mouth went agape, his heart hammered in his chest in a heavy race, his cheeks radiating with heat and reddened entirely. His hands shot upright to cover his eyes, his voice caught in his throat made him squeak: by a stroke of the perfect timing, although completely unintentional, he caught Steven slipping inside the tub completely bare. The clothes were kicked into a corner, noticed by Ruby as he tried to direct his attention elsewhere. Slowly spreading the two fingers apart, the image of pale skin defined by a very light toning of muscle was forever engraved in his mind.

"I-I cou-could h-h-have step-ped o-out!" he spluttered. "Ev-Ever h-heard of _decency_?"

Steven splashed water in his face, "Sorry, I'm just rather hasty to wash the scent of the ocean." Heaving a heavy sigh, his expression fell. "That terrible, terrible Arceus forsaken ocean…"

Ruby slowly brought his hands back to his side, face vividly delving into a lighter shade of red, his hands shaking to reach the shampoo bottle from the wall cabinet. Attempting to brush away the nervousness, he sorted through the containers. "There's pinap berry shampoo and watmel shower gel."

"Anything is fine," he said, splashing water several times to dampen his hair.

When Ruby knelt beside the bathtub, he caught Steven staring intensely at his hands. The blotches of white were barely noticeable against Steven's pale complexion – if it were him, he would feel extremely self-conscious…more than he already is hiding the disfiguring scar beneath his beanie. "It'll go away quick," _So consider yourself lucky a little frostnip won't last forever unlike a salamence slashing. _

"I suppose, but it's_ hideous_," Steven muttered sullenly.

Ruby flicked his eyes at the two bottles clutched to his chest, he would never openly admit how scared and how hurt he felt hearing that from Steven, the blunette completely oblivious to his discomfort on appearance. From his disturbing red eyes, the double scars from the dragon's reminder—

Steven's eyebrows rose, worriedly he asked, "Something wrong?"

Ruby shook his head, flashing the man a saddened smile. "It's nothing."

—everything about him disturbing one way or another. Never had he felt so ashamed and humiliated to be beside Steven: someone cared by all, while he was stuck with a once dear friend and a father that rejects his very existence. It was harder more than ever to bottle everything inside, to keep a strong face, and he knew it would be a matter of time before he could tolerate it any further.

A person only lasted so long before they cracked.

* * *

Steven's pokémon gathered in circle, Metagross firmly stated for Skarmory to settle _away _from Aggron, Claydol oddly behaved enough to join the group. The pokémon simultaneously gasped at Metagross's struggle against the carvanha and mightyena: the oldest most respectable of the bunch _struggling _had them all gawking at the exasperated steel arachnid.

'_Moving on…' _Metagross urged.

'_But it's unheard of! Are you starting to lose your luster?' _Skarmory slyly squawked.

Armaldo lifted an accusatory pincer at the steel bird,_ 'Dark types serves as a disadvantage. Metagross handled half the museum, Cradily the other, and caught in an ambush of one against too many. Metagross was meant to be immobilized, what else do you expect?'_

Skarmory chirped bemusedly, _'And so thou finally speaketh, o' ancient one.'_

Aggron boredly replied, _'I liked you better when you were just a fledgling. You actually could stay quiet for more than a minute, slower too so I could have caught you and ate you sooner. Good times…' _The steel beast blinked, realization struck it with shock_. 'I should have eaten you as a lairon. What was wrong with me?'_

Skarmory glared. _'Everything's wrong with you. Your meager brain never distinguished between food and the bed sheets while you were a lairon.'_

'_You overgrown pidgey, I should-'_

'_Enough! Your useless bantering is quite the shameful spectacle!' _crowed Metagross, baring its small but razor sharp fangs at the two steel pokémon. They huffed in unison, looking away from each other in pride._ 'It's a sad day when Claydol behaves more respectable than you two combined!'_

Cradily poked Claydol with its tentacle, the doll's reaction was rocking to the light touch and firmly resting in place once again,_ 'Claydol is asleep.'_

Armaldo snorted, _'Go figure.'_

Metagross' eyes narrowed at Claydol, _'Moving on like I mentioned…Aggron displayed a demonstration in the museum for all of you—not directly, that is—to follow. In the event where a situation becomes grave where I can no longer protect Steven from harm, I entrust his safety to all. There is no order in which anyone will have to take my place but let it be said that it will be individually.'_

'_How come?' _Cradily asked.

'_It would be chaos if everyone escaped from their capsules at once. I propose once one falls, the other replaces: a single-file to conserve our strength rather than deplete it all at once. These goons, most of them at the very least, are fully capable of strategizing. And no matter what, even when everything looks bleak…'_

The pokémon fell into silence.

'_Be _reasonable_. I see those snickers, but do not be fooled. Skarmory-' _Piercing red eyes flickered over to the steel bird; Skarmory jumped at its name called.

'_You'll be surprised. We are not the priority; you do not save one of us if the last bit of our strength is to completely die out from a battle against enemies. Stay with Steven at all times.'_

Cradily, Skarmory, and Aggron looked slightly shaken at the scenario.

'_Think. Things. Through. The last thing anyone would want is a mistake caused by careless actions. Just by one mistake could make everything plummet drastically, Steven's life…'_

Metagross strode to its corner, resting its main junction of its body on the hardwood floor. _'And ours,' _it shut its eyes.

The pokémon huddled around in a circle directed their sight to the floor, absorbing every morsel Metagross mentioned. The moment abruptly transitioned from a dark, gloomy atmosphere to an abrupt tension breaking fright as Claydol woke up with a fright, screeching loudly, '_FLYING RAINBOW RAPIDASH SPRINKLE MUFFIN NUM NUM._' Appearing momentarily dazed, Claydol instantly fell right back to sleep.

Aggron gaped blankly. _'Was that even a sentence?'_

Cradily piped, _'Even if it wasn't, Claydol only says one or two words repeatedly.'_

Skarmory feigned a miserable caw, '_I worry for it.'_

Armaldo grunted in a way to say it agreed as well.

* * *

The pair remained in silence. Steven frequently initiated small talk but his only response included nods and dismissal grunts, the tense atmosphere made him sink in the tub. Ruby would tug on his hair when he started scratching his hands, receiving scowls and short lectures that his irritated skin will only worsen – how could he help himself? Having his hands frozen gained Steven the most terrible itch; how far his nails dug into his skin further worsened the everlasting sting. His thoughts badgering him on the destruction of the museum, he easily endangered the welfare of the visitors from his pokémon's impacts; the real eyesore was to see Archie for the second time: his voice laced in venomous mockery, his sneering face holding a confident aspect as if he had everything wrapped around his little finger grated Steven's nerves. He surprised himself; he did not break out in a sweat because Archie could have surely called out all six of his pokémon—Aggron was a wall of defense, Steven was arrogant enough to confess it would take more than several carvanha to beat his large steel beast—and surely made his way to defeat the pest that threatened his objective.

Steven ignored the most pessimistic scenario – he was well alive, his Aggron's intimidation fulfilled its duty to protect its trainer and scare off Aqua's movement for the time-being. The blunette checked his pokénav occasionally in hopes of an update with the meteorite, but Brawly failed to respond back to every message. He wanted to rely on someone else rather than Brawly except he knew nothing of other gym leaders involved with the meteorite predicament; he was left assuming the best that the meteorite was secured away from the two rivaling teams. His mind reeled back towards Magma's movement, unlike Aqua who seemed to be appearing left and right, news on Magma had yet to turn up. Not that Steven would complain, he sunk lower in the bathtub to loll his head to the side—"Stop moving so much!" snapped Ruby—indulging his time of pleasant leisure.

He thought best the leave Ruby alone after receiving many one-worded responses, shrugging Steven assumed Ruby wanted time to think in peace. Chuckling silently, he would admit he was rather excited to see Ruby's passion in full glory at the contest. A wonderful opportunity, he mused, in a very crowded, very loud area where nothing seemed absolutely wrong. He needed much needed relaxation; selfishly he was just paying Wallace a favor. He sighed heavily—Ruby hitched a brow but awkwardly resumed massaging the shampoo around his blue locks—the less involved Wallace was with Team Magma and Team Aqua…the less of a chance Steven would ever have to face him.

Then Steven heartily smiled, normally he would reach any length to see Wallace even if it made his heart ache bearing the sight of Winona accompanying his side. He would see the gym leader, but Steven could barely hold any form of resentment the woman: his nature could not bear it. Steven would take cover behind his pokémon—Metagross was less fond of Wallace for whatever reason Steven was never sure of—and he would gaze at the two lovebirds with a fleeting smile. He then succumbed to his hobby, to stop torturing himself to see his former lover fully in love with another. Mr. Stone was absolutely right in his letter, Steven admitted, and for that he remained grateful. Steven's head was directed to the wall, he lolled his head forward this time, his oceanic-blue eyes fixed on Ruby. Ruby's concentration ruined after Steven moved for the second time, he peered down, blinking surprisingly.

They were both just staring at one another.

The words that were meant to come out of Steven's mouth were supposed to be a cryptic—for Ruby, that is—gratitude. This time, however, Steven was left clueless on his actions relating the coordinator's name to his deep scarlet eyes. "I remember the first time I found some emeralds at a cave near the coastline. I also found several rubies," his lifted his hands out of the water and cupped either side of the coordinator's face, fingers trailing around the ridges of Ruby's eyes. "They were just as red, just as beautiful…the most beautiful gems I have ever _found_…"

It was the first time Steven ever witnessed Ruby blushing – in a little surge of panic realizing his low tone of voice, or the way he just stroking his companion's face, made him chuckle nervously. Steven tried to change the subject as quickly as possible; what could have possibly possessed him to reveal an exploration of his was nagging his judgment. "S-So! Ready for that contest?"

"Not really," Ruby said plainly. He yanked the removable chrome shower head resting on the brim of the tub, extending its metallic cord to reach Steven. "Raise your head, hold this, and close your eyes."

Steven did as told; he was holding the shower head while Ruby rinsed away the shampoo. The fingers massaging his head eventually departed, Ruby yanked the towel from the rack, hand outstretched for Steven to accept it. He was disappointed how seriously stiff Ruby was acting, in the end he resorted to something; once again, he wasn't sure what compelled him to do so. He grasped onto Ruby's wrist, pulled him inside the tub—which was big enough to accommodate for two people or one large pokémon—careful enough for Ruby to plummet safely without cracking his head against the tub's rim.

Ruby was submerged for a mere four seconds before reappearing, gasping at the sudden shock at the water filling his lungs. Bitterly he spit out the soapy water. Ruby's eyes were fixated on Steven like he grew two heads, yet he found himself oddly bursting in laughter, Steven merrily joining as well. When the laughter did die down, Ruby ignored the heavy weight of his clothing, unfortunately unaware of Steven's reason for silence as he rubbed away at the soapy bubbles around his eyes. Opening one eye not covered in bubbles, he blushed as Steven was inching towards him.

The blue eyes he fondly adored were not concentrated on him, per say, but rather a distinctive mark partially revealed by the slipping beanie: the water's weight shifted the headgear to the side without notice. Eyes widening by the two fingers hovering slowly near his partially hidden scars, Ruby hammered his arm at the water. The water splashed directly on the blunette, the soapy fluid landing on both eyes, groaning at the lingering sting.

Ruby jumped out of the tub, his clothes heavy from absorbing the water, stormed out of the bathroom without turning back. He ran past Steven's pokémon voicing out puzzled concerns in their pokémon dialect; he earned several double-takes in the lobby before he was out of the Center. Securing the beanie in place, he did not know where his legs were leading him; he was not sure whether he had the heart to return.

He never felt so ashamed.

Lowering his beanie, his fingers brushed against the leathery-feeling scars: a plaguing reminder he would fail at everything he did, be it friendships or his own family.

Ruby never felt so_ hideous_.

* * *

**A/N**: Random flashback is not actually random. It's for the next chapter. (It was suppose to be much longer for all of Steven's pokémon but I never gave Armaldo much of a role yet. ._.; Even if I did, it would have turned out extremely lengthy…) And I think, after reaching chapter ten, I think it was finally time to get rid Steven's obliviousness, or_, at least_, by a LITTLE bit.


	12. Two sides

**A/N**: Continuing along, my head had the only marathon with possibilities. And frankly it was pissing me the hell off, so I hope you guys are okay what I ended up with for this chapter. ._.; I'll mention at the very end how, in comparison to the last chapter, this one felt extremely effy to me. Although I can't do much about since I honestly tried to fix this chapter up. Srsly. But it just became so much worse that I made it end up in this. PLZ EXCUSE SPOTTED MISTAKES LURKING ABOUT.  
**Extra notes**: (Traits of) CHARACTER EXPLORATION AHOOOOY. **_BEWARE. _**Oh yuh, beware this chapter too I guess, here's why below:  
**Warning**: Things get a tiny bit heated, I suppose. Well. You know what to expect from a pairing like this. There really ain't so many surprises what goes on lulz. But let's pretend I'm referring to something that'll be dramatic. DUN DUN DUUUN. /phail attempt is a phail.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 11**

︵

I just wanna break you down so badly  
While I trip over everything you say  
I just wanna break you down so badly  
In the worst way

x./Taking Back Sunday - Makedamnsure\.x

* * *

Steven wrapped the towel around his waist whilst stepping innocently out of the bathroom; his pokémon's pointed stares were definitely the sight he expected: their expressions thoroughly convinced he was the cause for the scene. A shipment for a new suit would arrive tomorrow; he was left walking around with a towel for the rest of the breezy evening. Considering the pokémon contest held in two days the storage for pajamas ran out completely, Steven resorted wrapping the blanket over his shoulders in a poor attempt for warmth. He returned his pokémon to their pokéballs—although much later he sent Cradily, accompanied by Armaldo, downstairs to Nurse Joy's care in hopes the line has shortened—to avoid their accusatory looks. Skarmory, however, flew away from the beam of its ball and landed cozily on the top bunk bed. His hands were nipped by Skarmory's sharp beak if Steven tried to reason with the steel-bird to return to its ball, the pokémon fully adamant to rest on a bed.

Metagross glowered at the bird, _'Have you no shame?'_

Skarmory snickered, _'None whatsoever.'_

Metagross prevented Steven from stepping out indecently as worried as he was for Ruby; Metagross would have no other choice but to use its psychic energy before Steven reached for the door. The man would hover in the air grumpily, his body brought gently on the bed. Left without an option, Steven surfed through the channels to distract his impulsive glances at the wall clock ticking away. Ruby left all his belongings behind, the pokéballs were spilling out of the smallest pocket, and the hour quickly turned to three hours before Steven's madness had him pacing the room: he feared Ruby would be attacked or kidnapped, he had no doubt in his mind a few Aqua grunts were silently terrorizing Slateport's corners.

Metagross' crimson eyes followed Steven—Skarmory cawed groggily, begging for its trainer to keep his motions to a hush whisper—the pale orange hued horizon fell into blackness, by the fourth hour Metagross decided to act on its own. It pressed its claw onto Aggron's pokéball, the gleaming red light releasing the dozing steel beast—Steven was so concentrated in his own worriment he failed to realize Metagross' actions or his Aggron's presence—fighting the urge to sleep on the spot. Metagross briefly explained its plan; Aggron nodded the information wearily, suppressing a gruff yawn.

_'You know, if Steven really wants to walk out stark naked, I say let him.' _Aggron thoughtfully stated. Sensing the bitter irritation from Metagross' lack of sleep and tolerance, Aggron digressed from the topic.

Steven hitched a brow. "Metagross? Aggron? I thought you two would have been asleep by now."

Skarmory flung its head on the pillow in a tired manner, "Skarr…" _'I _was_…'_

Metagross stepped out the door, Steven had a faint inkling of Metagross' actions and smiled gratefully: he knew better to doubt Metagross' judgment, Steven chose not to interfere and closed the door. His blue eyes rested on Aggron and Skarmory quarrelling with each other in their pokémon dialect, he pursued the positive guess they were merely getting along—

Skarmory was crowing loudly at Aggron, Aggron was roaring disdainfully at Skarmory.

—like the best friends his two pokémon really are. He chuckled quietly at the mock riot created by the two steel creatures, he watched them bemusedly while waiting for Metagross' return, as well as Ruby's. He trekked to the bathroom, rummaging the pockets of his dirty discarded clothing for the letter his father sent him sometime ago – it was only a matter of time before he deciphered the extra contents considering the intensity of Team Aqua's troubling chaos with Stern's submarine intended for the deep sea exploration. Ignoring the friendly attachment his father sent—a lingering pang of guilt remained: who was he to affront Ruby's age as an incompetent child for a companion because of his age in Granite cave?—his eyes narrowed into slits at the reconstructed paragraph his father was able to salvage.

He rummaged through the cabinets for a pen, several sheets of paper, all awhile shuffling around the room whilst the towel was slowly slipping off his waist. Apologizing at Skarmory for the noise—he threw the steel pokémon an exasperated look of confusion: how would Ruby sleep? Skarmory's resolute resting on the bed bed to sleep the night was completely unwavering—he grimaced at the black-ink pen he found lodged between the narrow the air vents on the hardwood floor. "Ballpoint piece of trash," he grumbled immaturely, his preference for fountain pens a childish habit. Steven sat beside the oak desk, one leg over the other, unconsciously grinding the pen cap between his teeth, his eyes fixed on the braille coding of the paragraph.

It was not his place to worry for Metagross' return, his best friend would never return empty-handed, it was trained to defend itself on various circumstances. His attention was ebbing away, he would scribble around the first few clues of the paragraph, his lips pursed to retain the seriousness deciphering the passage but his eyes trailed elsewhere. He would pause, stare at the door, then bring his head back down to redirect his concentration to the desk cluttered with the sheets of paper scrawled over with scribbled descriptions. He leaned forward, his hands pressed on his head, his fingers sluggishly running though the tangled knots in his hair. Steven screwed his eyes shut, his thoughts vividly plagued at the image imprinted in his mind.

Ruby fondly blushing at his touch. Ruby's face horror-struck when he saw—not entirely, but well enough—the very _thing_ Ruby had every intention of hiding.

His eyes flickered between the passage, the resourceful pictures of the braille inscriptions, then back to the sheet of paper. "This would be 'E'…this is 'T'…here would be 'V'…"

How could he apologize? How was he _suppose_ to apologize?

"And 'I'…or perhaps this is 'N?' No, it should be 'I,' and this…"

He knew what he saw the first time, his conscious soothed him to assume the cause of Ruby's blushing was because he merely did not anticipate being touched. Ruby seemed indifferent right after…

"In tis…ah, so this would be the 'H.' In _this_-"

He stuffed the extra letter under the pillow before plopping on the edge of the bottom bunk bed, the agonizing impulse drove him to quickly steal a glance at the door. Sighing disappointingly, Steven's returned his focus to the paper, the only set of audible noises resonating in the room was Skarmory's light cawing in response to Aggron's exasperated grunts and his pen scratching against the paper.

He casted another hopeful stare the door, frowning at the same result.

Steven eyed the paper sleepily, "In this cave…" stiffing a loud yawn, Steven curled up on the bed, his eyes fluttering shut, "…we have lived…"

* * *

Metagross felt uneasy walking around in the midst of a darkened night for Ruby, it felt the same amount of wretched uneasiness when it battled Aqua grunts in the museum to currently, the Aqua grunts lingering around Slateport knew of Steven Stone's infamous Metagross for a reason. Its eyes rested on the speck of recognizable white on a bench near the museum, Metagross paused to cast the museum a suspicious glare, analyzing the crumbled remains for a dark silhouette. A swift wisp of wind swept past the crumbled remains, nothing shifted besides a cascading stream of dust and rubble from the ornamental makeshift fossils on the exterior of the museum, Metagross adverted its suspicion to the sight of the child hugging his knees on the bench.

Metagross approached slowly, it wanted to confirm if its presence was either unexpected or being ignored, Ruby failed to budge from his spot on the bench as Metagross planted itself beside the coordinator. Ruby raised his head forward to the city's erected clock obelisk, muttering inaudibly to himself Ruby drew his hands to lower his beanie, a speck of blue out of the corner of his eye caught him off guard. Metagross self consciously softened its expression, under the impression Ruby's initial fright was its menacingly fierce appearance.

Ruby exhaled loudly, his hand cupped over where his heart was hamming in his chest, his grinning smile crooked. "Way to pop up and scare me to death," he chuckled heartily, "'ppreciate it, seriously."

Metagross eyes narrowed into slits shifting its attention to the museum, it gathered its focus to Ruby waiting for the child to either elaborate on the events that left him wandering the desolate streets of Slateport or for the boy to hop on its body and return willingly to the Pokémon Center. Ruby scooted to the edge of the bench, his legs swaying back and forth in a silent trance, his fingers drumming nervously on the metal rim. Metagross shifted its awareness to the museum angrily; it blinked in surprise as Ruby finally spoke.

"I…Steven is…"

Metagross analyzed Ruby sympathetically; his voice was shaking.

"_He's screwing me over!_" he cried in indignation, his tone nearly startling Metagross. Ruby cupped his hand over his eyes, hiding the frustration that furrowed his brows, "I heard about Wallace from Briney…"

In all honesty, Metagross blinked in surprise albeit his neutral angered-appearing expression did not reveal that.

Ruby continued breathlessly, "You, even _Aggron_, have an idea what's wrong with me. I bet even Skarmory already has it figured out, it's only Steven who barely gets it. In the bathroom he just touched my face, he was telling me how some rubies he found in the cave were pretty and how _red_…and…and…what am I suppose to do? This is getting so…" he crinkled his free hand, ultimately clenching it into a fist, "…so irritating!"

The steel-like arachnid blinked blankly at Ruby, "Metaa? Meta metagross."_ 'And? You are still withholding something.'_

Ruby's hands rested back to his side, he stared deeply at the flickering city lamppost, "It's complicated—I know that look you're giving me, Metagross, I'm gonna explain anyway—but pokémon usually always carry battle scars in order to represent the superiority of its power," Ruby peered at the pokémon, he nudged Metagross' leg forward, the pokémon complied and Ruby's fingers ran down the lightly visible embedded cuts that manage to penetrate its steel-exterior, "or to represent what the pokémon had endured. It's a proud thing…" he paused for a breath.

"It's an _honorable_ thing to have, and you're no pushover yourself, Metagross. Keep it up," he grinned wryly. Metagross admired Ruby's prospect, it had little to no idea Ruby could talk calmly in a mature manner. The trainer-coordinator released Metagross' leg, "For some of us humans, it's not entirely the same all the time. A salamence slashed my head when I was smaller…I was trying to protect Sapphire: she means the world to me. I did everything and still do everything I can to keep her from harm's way. Like that time on Briney's ship…"

Ruby clutched the hem of his beanie, his eyes moodily lowering, "You know how she can't stand me now? I'm still at fault. I couldn't protect her to that extent. I mean, sure, I manage to rescue her from the clutches of that salamence, but I just couldn't…keep that peace-worldly image she loved so much. And I feel, well, pretty much awful ever since. Salamence left me some really gross scars, I've been trying to hide them for the longest now," Ruby clapped his hands together, feigning a joyful moment, "which brings me here because a _certain someone_ got a glimpse of it!" he returned to his original position on the bench: his arms hugging his legs.

"Steven was never suppose to see them. When I got a sprained ankle my beanie wasn't touched or moved, I would've known after wearing everyday. But now…I feel so…it's hideous, Metagross. I have these scars, I can't do anything right, and I'm stuck wearing glasses when I can't see something from faraway – like I'm not self-conscious…" he drifted sullenly.

Ruby jumped as Metagross rested its claw lightly on the trainer-coordinator's elbow; its scarlet-red eyes subtlety shifting Ruby into a serene-like daze, a smile broadened the child's lip sweetly. Ruby tilted his head, examining any signs of visible facial changes on the steel pokémon, spotting none Ruby brushed Metagross' claws appreciatively. Metagross needed no words to reassure the scarlet-eyed the normality would continue despite the disrupting broken chord after the short incident: it would all be mended, Ruby was sure of it. Ruby snickered deviously, "I knew you were always a softie, you're just hiding it," the child prodded.

Metagross rolled its eyes, allowing time for Ruby to seat himself comfortably before returning to the Center. The loud rustling noises caught Metagross' attention; it spotted a visible lining of a human shoulder creeping beside the museum's decorative beam. Metagross opened its' mouth wide, a concentrated orange-white ball of energy gathered in its mouth, the orb increased in size before firing heavy beam at the faint silhouette lurking behind the museum. The power of its hyper beam drove Metagross's body back a few inches, its claws breaking through the cement in a small path. Ruby was shaken by the blow, his mind in peace shattered abruptly by Metagross' attack on the museum – as if it has not already sustained enough damage by the gaping hole and broken rubble piling around the museum's proximity.

Metagross approached the museum with a fuel of rage, it stopped shortly in its track by the light tapping it felt on its head. Ruby's face was drained of color, the small body quavering, "I'm getting a horrible vibe…let's just go, Metagross. Let's avoid this, okay?"

Without resistance Metagross complied, Ruby was rubbing his arms furiously at the cold shiver running down his spine, he then dared to steal a glance at the museum's state. He heard the rustling before Metagross arrived, an animosity like he never felt before gave him goosebumps… The pair was out of sight quickly, the automatic doors welcoming the late guest before the entire facility's light were out. Rubble was kicked aside; briefly the figure dusted his wear from the dust inflicted from the hyper beam's imprecise aim.

Archie smirked. "It was smart of me to stick around after all," absently Archie flicked the small stones off his collar, "Steven's Metagross is being an impudent pest as usual. Like pokémon, like trainer. Wouldn't you agree, Angie?"

Angie grinned, her finger twirling a lock of her pink hair. "The Stones are quite the meddling bunch; never pegged Steven as the babysitting type though."

Archie dismissed her comment. "Steven allows his strongest pokémon to wander the night raided by us a few hours ago? I can't tell if he's being arrogant or idiotic, personally I prefer the latter rationale," said the Aqua leader chuckling silently. "I might have not heard everything, but there is no doubt in my mind that kid has a special place. I remember faintly a brat tackled a grunt of mine…yes, it was definitely him. When we steered back, Steven was looking at the water frantically."

Angie smirked, her hands shot back into her pockets.

Archie growled, "I told Stone he will regret it, and regret it he definitely shall. I trust you can have that kid in our hands in time?"

The Aqua admin shook her head, "Of course. That child will be as good as yours," her eyes gazed at the Pokémon Center, "I'm sure Steven will have no other but to choice to give up. First him, the rest will follow suit, and the world will surely be yours."

* * *

Metagross nestled into its corner of the room, a faint snicker hidden: Aggron and Skarmory were weakly arguing, their eyelids drooping from their lack of sleep, in light of this they argued until one was victor of their frivolous disagreement or until someone of intimating force ordered them into silence, namely Metagross. Aggron pressed the button of its pokéball, returning on its own accord for a well deserved rest. Ruby searched for his bag—perhaps it was on his bed bunk, he thought—quietly he climbed the ladder to reach the bed, his hands suddenly pecked by Skarmory's sharp steel beak, he groaned in defeat and descended the stairs in search of his sling backpack. Metagross shot a glare at Skarmory, lazily the bird opened its mouth and closed it: the pokémon refused to budge.

_'Sleep in your pokéball,'_ Metagross growled.

_'_You_ sleep in your pokéball,'_ Skarmory countered, shuffling in the bed happily.

Ruby ducked his head under Steven's bed, his arm outstretched to reach his backpack secured in a far corner, through weak attempts his fingers latched onto the strap. He fished for thread and a needle to resume his work under the dim lamplight, he waved reassuringly for Metagross to fall asleep, he had no energy to argue with Skarmory's unrelenting resistance for the bed. A little past midnight alarmed him—he knew he stormed out around the late evening, he hardly realized how long he has been sulking outside—a reality check for the contest date bothered him into hastiness.

Ruby felt slightly ill in the head, he endured the breezy cold for hours while he waltzed around the town in his wet clothes, the cold throbbing his head and he was sure he would be a mucus-running mess like his marshtomp. He practically begged Joy for an emergency set of clothes—his clothes remained dampened—she was only able to provide an extremely large t-shirt, he guessed it was left behind one day, clean but never worn. Setting aside his work, Ruby quietly tip-toed to the bathroom – Metagross heard the floor creak, propping its body up alertly it quickly rested back down by the reassuring wave Ruby gave; Skarmory hardly stirred.

He washed his body raw until his glowing-white skin delved into a bright shade of red, his hands cupped either side of his cheeks: he could still feel the ghostly sensation where Steven rested his hands earlier. Sinking deeper in the tub, Ruby snatched the leftover bottle of shampoo, massaging the hammering throb in his head. He had enough for one day: Steven was overwhelming him to a breaking point; it left a bitter taste in his mouth dealing with his stomach's somersaults at the blunette's unpredicted actions. Ruby paused, the shampoo suds running down past his ears, a concern filling his nagging conscious…his heart was racing when they held hands around Slateport, could Steven have heard his heartbeat through his hand?

Washing away the soap from his head and body, he slipped out of the tub to wash his clothes, his thoughts drawn to a close when he whipped his head at the door. The bed creaked, the occupant however still asleep allowed a reassured sigh escape his lips, all the while he washed his clothes clean and laid it on the rim to dry overnight. The plain white shirt he slipped on reached his knees—Ruby's eyes twitched, _I'm not that short, am I?—_the sleeves double the length of his arms, and the neckline of his shirt slipping sideways off his bony shoulder. Placing his beanie over his wet hair, he spared a wayward glance at the mirror, almost glaring at the drooping sleeves. _This is unreasonable to sleep in. Beggars can't be choosers though…_

Ruby flicked the light off from the bathroom; he returned under the lamplight to resume working on Coco's wear for the contest, the bath wakened him up to an extent to work diligently. Every so often he found himself dozing while patching the fabric together, his vision hazing and splitting to the point the needle pricked his fingertips—like the icicles haven't caused enough cuts—rather than the cloth. Curiously he gazed at the former champion blissfully asleep under several sheets of paper scribbled in a foreign coding, his mind too drowsy to question Steven's lack of clothing, his scarlet orbs returning to the clothing. Despite his time invested solely working on the piece, his body eventually caved into sleep, his back resting against the wall. His legs coiled close to his body from the strong wispy wind rushing inside the room from the open window, the cool breeze woke Steven from his peaceful slumber.

Steven rose from the bed, the loud creaking noise stirred Metagross from its sleep, blood-red eyes harshly scrutinizing its trainer before resting back to the floor. Sluggishly he dumped his research on the desk, a peak of awareness brought him to shut the lamplight he could have sworn he powered off earlier, his sleepy eyes widening upon the realization at faint sound of light breathing. He peered overhead, the weight on his shoulder lessening…how could he forget? Metagross returned. Metagross brought Ruby safely as intended to the Center, heaving a sigh of relief he crouched to Ruby's level. Steven pursed his lips, a familiar fascination clouding his mind he knew all too well when he was in a relationship with Wallace…

He ran a finger carefully over Ruby's collarbone, panicking slightly as the coordinator shuffled in his sleep, Ruby's craned his neck and immediately went back to his light breathing snooze. Everything was to his vast expectations, Ruby exposed his neck, facing the wall opposite to his exposed shoulder, and he knew luck was with him. Steven unconsciously licked his lips, dreamily visualizing how the untouched white-skin would appear with lovenips around the crook of Ruby's neck, oceanic-blue eyes trailed at the exposed shoulder. He was overcome with a strange possessive urge to cover the exposed skin as if someone else but him were watching; one hand ran over Ruby's thigh to feel for signs of undergarments.

His judgment lost to question his actions; ever since he took notice of Ruby's deep blush in the bathroom he gained a strange curiosity for the sleeping coordinator. He inched forward to hear the light breathing turn into ragged breaths as his other hand residing on the coordinator's shoulder slipped inside the open folding of the white shirt to explore—

"Meta?"

Steven blinked; his blood ran cold as he snatched his hands away. His heart pounding in chest as he scrambled away from the sleepy child, Metagross was still in its corner and detecting the odd atmosphere it voiced its concern. He ran inside the bathroom, bolting the door shut to look at himself in the mirror…

_Wh-What just came over me?_ He peered at his frostnipped hands in horror, enraged he submerged his hands in water, trying to scrub the imaginary malevolent grime coating his fingertips. Turning off the faucet, he faced away from the mirror, his hand cupping his gaping mouth. "This is…this is just terribly _wrong_."

He jumped at the gentle knocking on the door, hesitantly he opened it in hopes that it could either be Skarmory or Metagross—Ruby was rubbing his eyes drowsily with his sagging sleeve, his voice drained, "Door slammed. You okay?" Steven felt guiltier realizing Ruby wore the beanie even in his sleep.

Steven perked a nervous grin, "Y-Yes, I caught a bit of a nightmare…If anything," he laughed equally nervously, "I should be asking about your condition. How are you feeling?" Bending his knees to meet Ruby's level, Steven stated very seriously, "I'm very sorry I upset you, Ruby, it was never my intention."

Ruby yawned, "'S alright…I'm just feeling really tired…Skarmory's got my bed."

Steven was worried how the child's body was swaying, as if at any moment he would collapse from exhaustion and sleep on the floor if he had to, in the end he scooped Ruby up from under the boy's arms. He preferred the cooperative side of Ruby through the brink of consciousness and drowsiness in comparison to the morning's brief cases of straightforward stubbornness, if Ruby were fully conscious he would have never wrapped his arms around Steven's neck so willingly. Steven found the sudden affection all too adorably endearing.

The blunette trotted the room quietly, offering an apologizing grin at the two other occupants begging for sleep—Skarmory opened its beak in preparation to nip at anyone who dared to near its territory—gently resting Ruby on the bed whilst he wrapped the blanket to cover the small body. After his dark curiosity went rampage, he felt he deserved to sleep on the cold floor for the rest of the night; he was slightly relieved he was able to act normally and attend to the coordinator as planned since the beginning. He turned on his heel, however a tight hold on his wrist prevented him from departing. He pleadingly whispered for Ruby to release his vice grip, Ruby would only shake his head and with his free hand he would pat the empty space on the bed.

"No, really, have the bed." Steven insisted.

Metagross had the strongest desire to laugh, the irony of Steven having a difficult time keeping a fine line between himself and Ruby. Shaking off the urge, it muted the bickering commotion of the former champion and the young coordinator.

"Ruby, please-"

"No," he responded defiantly. He tugged with all his strength, bringing the blunette down forcefully if not knocking his head with the secondary bunk bed painfully.

Steven rubbed the sore with a loud groan. Ruby stared boredly.

Steven had a gut-feeling Ruby would refuse to sleep unless he did. Left without options he situated himself on the bed, his hand tugging on the blanket to cover them both. Seemingly pleased, Ruby rested his head on the pillow.

Struggling against sleep and escaping, Steven idly listened to the minutes ticking by the wall clock, a little over an hour later he was having difficulty keeping his eyes open. He waited for Ruby to rest soundly asleep so he could crawl out, visibly Steven cringed when the child's arm flung protectively over his chest. He was sure Ruby was asleep; presumably it could have easily been a different variant of late night toss and turns for the child. Wallace admitted one casual morning Steven was a cuddler at night, Steven choked on his coffee: his pokémon were rigid from the cold steel that composes their body—excluding Cardily. Armaldo is a rock-bug pokémon, but its body is composed of steel plates—he cared for all of them deeply, but they were never one for loving embraces. He least expected his late night cuddling so close to Wallace, that very afternoon he released Aggron and Armaldo from their pokéballs.

He would have released Claydol, although he was just filled with a deathly apprehension Claydol would make his little experiment a habit to strangers on the streets. Aggron and Armaldo were the only pokémon in his party with arms that were normally not planted to the ground, he instructed both of them to spread their arms wide. Curious the pair felt, mainly confused though, followed their trainer's strange instructions without fail. Steven analyzed them both, he gestured for each to have one arm down, then he told them to attach themselves arm-to-arm. Armaldo and Aggron exchanged perplexing looks; slowly they shifted their weight and were arm-to-arm as ordered.

Metagross, Skarmory, Claydol, and Cradily walked around casually Rustboro after Steven shooed them away. They returned to the fountain content, Skarmory annoyingly perched on Metagross, idly watching Steven ordering the two pokémon that evidently felt very awkward. Skarmory pecked at Metagross to draw nearer—

Steven stretched his arms out, hugging his pokémon simultaneously, immediately the pair shuddered away. Never again he tried the hugging tactic ever again—and he never quite understood the reasoning of his own nighttime cuddling—Aggron turned moody having to look foolish at the exact timing Skarmory wanted a closer view: the steel bird boisterous bird-like cackle filled the Devon's hallway for the rest of the week.

So in end he was able to experience being mentally victimized by another nighttime cuddler, despite how deeply he wanted to be_ anywhere else_ but the shared bed. In a feeble attempt for a distraction, he left one arm outstretched to peel off the chip of paint on the wall for the next several minutes. Ruby invaded the gap left between each other, his head finding a suitable comfort from the pillow to Steven's shoulder.

Steven eyed the floor longingly. _Anywhere else but here_.

* * *

Skarmory pecked at the large bag of pokémon food, its beak picking at its favorite kibble pieces joyfully, Metagross was quite disgusted of Skarmory's manners and swerved away the famished steel bird to release the rest of Steven's pokémon from their pokéballs. It dug inside Ruby's backpack, releasing the three befuddled pokémon from their pokéballs, their eyes uneasy being watched by gleaming red eyes. Skarmory, being the youngest of Steven's party, could relate to the three, its wings outspread for them to join picking at the bag for breakfast. Marshtomp gleefully sat beside Skarmory, without shame it stuffed its mouth with the kibble pieces, Nana and Coco slowly joining as well.

The racket continued by Aggron's daily arguments with Skarmory—this time Aggron was trying to reach for the food, Skarmory purposely stuck its head in the way to eat before the steel beast could fish out a single kibble—as well as the low grunts Metagross voiced to Claydol attempting to tamper the ceiling fan. Cradily entered the room, accompanied by Armaldo, from recovering from its treatment downstairs, the pair twitched as Claydol catapulted near them, they stepped aside hastily as the doll creature whizzed past their heads. Ruby propped his arm up to inspect the room in a sluggish daze, he felt strangely lax after having a wonderful night of sleep. It felt extremely odd he has yet to feel the ordinary morning grogginess but woke to a beautiful morning, his night dreams invaded by childish fantasies exploring the rest of the world. He found his lips perking at the playful bunch brightening the morning even further.

His mellow expression faltered in horror when his scarlet hues followed the placement of his other arm.

He recoiled his arm, his chest heaving in shock; he crawled backwards until his back touched the wall. _I was over there sleeping…how did I end up here? _Clutching his wrist, he held his breath petrified as Steven began stretch, the blunette rubbing both his eyes awake.

His face reddened when his fingertips of his clutched wrist brushed over his exposed shoulder. Faintly he recalled Skarmory claiming his bed, Metagross returning him back to the Center, working late to finish the piece for the contest, falling asleep soon after…

Ruby's legs were huddled close to his chest, he released his wrist to tug the neckline of his shirt to cover his exposed shoulder. His free hand scrambled to find the hem of the shirt, stretching the fabric to reach between his legs: he washed his clothes last night; he was without undergarments that were left to dry overnight. The oversized shirt only reached his knees, he could not stretch his legs because of the other occupant on the same bed, and because of this it left him completely exposed. The lively pokémon were of no help, the creatures too busily occupied fooling around or eating to provide a proper distraction.

His bottom lip quivered when Steven faced his direction first.

* * *

**A/N**: I love how most of you assumed it would be Steven (like without a single trace of doubt) that would find Ruby. Rofl. Btw, please tell me **someone** out there so wants remake a on Ruby and Sapphire ;_; It was released in '03 after all…FML IF WALLACE IS CHAMPION IN A POSSIBLE REMAKE. Anyway_. EXPLANATION TIME AWAAAAAY~_ You know how Marge is a member of Team Manga but her anime and game name is Courtney? Same with Angie, she's Shelly in the game and anime. Since I go with manga names (and because Marge has been stuck to her manga name too) her name will remain Angie.  
Annnnnd this chapter didn't turn out like I was planning. Metagross flashback? Yup, it's mostly for a tiny scene in the _next_ chapter _for sure_. ._.; Really, this chapter was all pulled out of random. Things were suppose to be a little bit cheery… A LOT CHEERY ACTUALLY. What changed my mind and made me have this typed up is beyond me. Especially since this chapter ended up shorter than the last, but ah well. Finishing my rant…Welp…

**…to make it perfectly clear, I think I got this chapter to suck so hard. It was pretty cruddy. I promise to make it up in the next chapter, srsly. ;_;**

(On a funny note, I was listening to the Pandora radio. When I was typing Steven trying to figure out how to sleep, Time after time by Quietdrive started playing. The first two lines of the lyrics almost described how I was typing up Steven. Lulz. Now time to end this monster of an author's note.)


	13. Handling the unexpected

**A/N**: Yep. Angst for sure. Not right now, in the next chapter. At last I won't have to mention Slateport for the next few chapters. It's a good thing I find updates (sometimes) easier to accomplish and finish after a fic reaches a span of time. I remember by chapter three I was gonna stop updating lulz. I still think this has a long way to go and school isn't making it any better. But, as much as I almost had the urge to cut this chapter out into two parts, I mushed it all into one. For all I know, updates are gonna be like rly bad so might as make well make it worth it.  
**Extra notes**: Since I'm impatient, there might be errors lurking about. Hell, you have no idea how I tried my best fixing things up. This is why I keep chapters at least 6,000 words long, NEVER AGAIN do I want to give something another go beyond my average. And even though I almost split this into two chapters, I still would have had to check the same amount. So I hope you don't mind this.  
**Warning**: Why didn't I break this up? Because I've been dragging the main point way too long IMO. Long chapter? For some people, yes, for others who are used to seeing other ff authors writing 10,000+ (like most things I read) is normal by their standards. -bowz-  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kay?

* * *

**Chapter 12  
**

︵

Tell me what's the point of doing this every night  
What you're giving me  
Is nothing but a heart  
It's a lullaby  
Gonna kill my dreams, oh  
This is the last time  
Baby make up your mind  
'Cause I can't keep sleeping in your bed  
If you keep messing with my head  
Before I slip under your sheets  
Can you give me something, please?  
I can't keeping touching you like this  
If it's just temporary bliss

x./The Cab - Temporary bliss\.x

* * *

The heat warmed Ruby's cheeks, squirming uncomfortably at the former champion goggling him, his thoughts agonizingly screaming for the blunette to sense the uneasy vibe and turn away. Realization dawned on Steven slowly, he yawned the leftover drowsiness away, his head turned to offer an ordinary morning greeting to his fully awake companion after such a shaky nighttime experience. Ruby was paralyzed in spot, his face riddled with a discomforting confusion – he had no recollection being moved from the floor to the bed, much to Steven's dismay to playfully tease the coordinator's endearing cooperation in the morning. Frowning at the sickly impulse that drove him to have a feel of Ruby, he felt so ashamed he inched away from the bed, mumbling an apology before turning the other way around. Steven pressed his fingers on the bridge of his nose, his eyes screwed shut, he was offered the slightest bit of relief the bed began to creak.

Ruby crawled out, he spared the former champion a disheartening gaze, shaking the feeling off he rushed inside the bathroom, bolting the door behind him closed. In a slow, disappointing drag he slipped on his clothes, fingers shaking to properly tie the laces of his sneakers in a knot. Ruby wryly peered at the door, self-consciously he wrapped his arms around himself: last night had him on edge of his appearance. When Steven turned around without a word, his apology like a drained distant whisper, making Ruby feel slightly affronted by the nonchalant composure. He laughed dryly at the displeasing result of their morning: Steven was a mature adult with enough morality to give the other privacy, nothing more.

Time went by so fast with his attention absorbing the negativity he barely heard the front door knocking, he dragged himself to the faucet to splash water on his face, he adverted his eyes from the mirror: he knew he was upset, he should of felt sickened by the lingering hope Steven would act differently despite how he initially felt embarrassed being so exposed. It was just a little fantasy Steven would be flustered, pale-white skin delving to the lightest shade of pink, and stumbling over an apology through incoherent nonsensical rambling: that was thinking too overly of himself, he knew as much, which only severely disappointed him further having all his hopes shot down. Drying his face, Ruby trudged over to open the bathroom door, a nagging voice in his head ordering him to fake a smile if he had to.

An open parcel that was messily opened lied on the floor, the Devon logo imprinted on the binding tape, two sheets of bubble wrap spilling out of the package. Steven gleefully clamped the rhodium sleeve garters two inches above his elbow, his fingers poked innocently at the bands, on cue the faint lining of a compartment opened to a long outstretched mechanical claw. Equally he tested the other metal garter, and equally it revealed a thin mechanical claw clenching and unclenching as a test drive. Ruby stared dumbly at the blunette sliding two platinum rings on his fingers: Steven ordered a new suit and equipment overnight, Ruby twitched at the costly toll Steven wasted without flinching.

His delcatty brushed her face against her owner's leg, she purred lovingly, craving a little attention after finishing her breakfast. Steven was facing the opposite direction of the both his pokémon and Ruby, his time busily occupied tying the red cravat. Ruby absentmindedly stroked Coco's neck, his mind, however, now concentrated on his hunger. Apart from gorging himself with the Chairman's chocolate truffles, he had nothing else to eat, yesterday he was busy tending to Steven's frozen hands. Ruby did not buy his own soup at the time—the chocolate truffles kept his hunger at ease for the night—and rather fed Steven, with such a distraction gone, his stomach roared terribly loud.

All eyes whipped in Ruby's direction—sourly he considered the embarrassments will never cease—Steven stared for a brief moment, he muffled his lively laughter with his hand. Steven approached him, clapping a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, beaming a warm smile that immediately left Ruby staring down at his sneakers with a new found interest. Steven lead Ruby to the lobby, a few morning risers of both trainers and coordinators gathered at the tables and seats to eat, having lived to be served he had barely any cooking knowledge. Ruby's focus solely dedicated to the tiled floors and even pacing, Steven would have never realized his companion would have been flustered if it were not for the brightly red ears.

Blue eyes narrowed in concentration, he wished he never seen Ruby blushing in the bathroom, the curiosity was grating his nerves. He was not expecting to gain anything—blue irises widened, startling Ruby with an untimely howling chuckle. Moderately disturbed, Ruby brushed away Steven's hand, keeping as silent as ever. Steven never felt so relieved upon his realization: _Now I get it! Ruby _admires_ me as a role model! Anyone would blush in front of their role model, it is all so very clear now._ Feeling quite flattered, he remained in good spirits throughout the walk to the shopping plaza. His conclusion ended his badgering curiosity, he felt like he could resume his usual normal-self around the scarlet-eyed coordinator.

_Role model…_ Steven really liked the sound of that. His twisted fascination last night long gone from toying with his conscious.

Scarlet eyes dodged around the stands selling the various sorts of good—he was slightly curious why the citizens were acting a little jumpy if someone yelled loudly, namely the tone was used to advertise their own product or sales—several stands offered breakfast food and treats. The hunger turned into a craving, Ruby licked his lips at the ice cream cones distributed to buyers. Steven took no notice, it took several seconds to sink Ruby was no longer following him, frantically he searched the small crowd. Sighing in relief, he backtracked to the sight of Ruby's fixed focus; he hitched a brow at the crowded ice cream stand.

Steven was never keen sounding like is father, but he had no choice but to pat the coordinator's shoulder to regain the attention. "You will ruin your appetite. You need food, Ruby, not sweets."

Ruby ignored him, childishly he approached the stand with a sheepish smile, he growled when he tried to advance but something was holding him back in place. Craning his neck, impatience written clearly written over his face, Steven seem to be having a blast hooking his finger in the collar's of the boy's shirt. Ruby would attempt to march forward with all his strength, he decided against it so the fabric of his shirt would not stretch. Ruby exhaled loudly, "If you don't let go, I swear I'll have Zuzu take you, by force, into the ocean."

Steven look as horrified as if someone pulled a knife on him. "Ruby, you're awful."

Ruby snickered in victory, "Try me."

Steven coughed to regain his composure, he ordered a vanilla cone—Ruby tugged his sleeve, "Hey, I wanted to get a sundae!"—the pair settled far from the crowd, occupying a rickety bench in dire need of a refreshing coat of paint. Steven watched the vast amount of shoppers and citizens strolling Slateport eagerly, the quantity increased in such a short amount of time. House doors were closing, the city welcoming its ordinary crowded citizens for its festive crowding, no less for pokémon contest to take place the day after tomorrow. Unconsciously he crumbled the napkins in his hand; the surroundings barely carried a whiff of bad air from the Aqua grunts that could have lingered.

Ruby paused stiffly, "You didn't have to buy me this…I was going to pay for it myself." Along the lines he was going to add, 'That's why I wanted a sundae since I'm paying,' but chose not to include.

He turned his attention to Ruby, blinking at the odd confession. "You're a strange one," he continued quickly before Ruby opened his mouth taking his statement possibly offensive, "Normally people would accept this treatment fairly without comment. When I bought that cloth for you at the stands, you accepted it with very strong amount of hesitation."

"It was expensive!" Ruby shot back in disbelief.

The former champion merely chuckled, for the second time in a day he clapped his hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Be as spoiled as much as you want, I honestly don't mind." He paused thoughtfully; he unrolled the crumbled napkin from his other hand, carefully wiping away the vanilla ice cream smeared on Ruby's chin.

Ruby shied away, the lingering desire to finish the rest of his ice cream lost, how tempted he was to lower his beanie to cover his face entirely. He missed Metagross' calming presence, it would also be the perfect opportunity to expose the never-ending shower of kindness and affection he received that potentially made him a bumbling lovesick wreck against Steven. He dumped the vanilla cone in the trash bin, turning on his heel to regain a sense of normality, his throat closed up, chocking down words as his eyes followed Steven's outstretched arm: he was offering his hand again, his foolish grin unwavering.

But the bigger fool is falling for such a terrible bait, his small hands interlacing loosely with Steven's to a perfect fit – he almost lost all sensation to move his own legs, he could barely handle the blunette's good intentions without looking away. In the end Ruby was forced to think everything will remain completely platonic between one another, the despicable notion was brutally painful, to continue tailing behind something that will never be his. When a memory of Wally popped in his head, the understanding concept sunk with guilt: he finally understood exactly how Wally tries so hard that it all falls to naught. A persisting will prevented him from completely severing his ties with Steven; then again he wondered if Wally also had the same persistence in spite of how bleak the results were?

Ambition radiating in his eyes, Ruby closed the gap between their hands by lacing his fingers more confidently than before.

* * *

"Eat your vegetables."

"No," Ruby responded defiantly. His concentration entirely focused extracting the thinly sliced onion cluttered along a sea of cubed green bell pepper, his fingers coated in warm melted cheese began to quickly harden. His patience for the egg burrito diminished entirely, eagerly he pushed the plate aside to welcome a platter of pancakes glazed in a succulent oran berry syrup, hurriedly he rammed his spork on the first pancake. As he was slicing his food into pieces, he popped the cheese coated fingers in his mouth one by one, absently gnawing off the sticky yellow substance of his digits.

In the end Steven purchased Ruby breakfast from the stands, the tray held more of the coordinator's food rather than his own as he peacefully settled for a medium-sized cup of coffee and buttered bagel lightly steaming off his paper plate, and in the end they returned to the Center to eat at desolate table amongst the small few. He personally had a first-hand experience realizing how thin Ruby truly is, he remained silent on Ruby's various choices having a heavy breakfast. He also silenced himself from voicing his personal pet peeve for Ruby to eat with proper utensils rather than the plastic spork – instead of using a knife, Ruby used the spork's tines to rip off pieces of the pancakes. Steven laughed dryly in his head, his father would be proud Steven could relate to the frustration having to correct someone's table manners - Mr. Stone invested so much precious time teaching Steven how to hold a fork correctly throughout his childhood.

Ruby, however, held no shame ordering his breakfast: from eating a muffin, sipping his lemonade, and happily chewing his delicious pancakes. In other occasions his father would scowl at him if he found out how messily Ruby ate his breakfast, now being father-free he was able display rebellion without worry or fear. He dug his spork into his food, unaware of the tiny specks of fluffy crumbs that flung across the table onto Steven's paper plate during the tearing process. Steven eloquently patted the napkin on his lips, wiping a possible smear of butter or crumb that could be present around his mouth. Ruby stared down at his food, swallowing the pancake lodged in his throat with a good chug of lemonade. Tearing off another piece of his food with the spork, he barely taken notice how the utensil would shake or wave according to the tone of his voice when he talked, his food pointing to the former champion.

"You sure you're okay with just a bagel? Don't you want something else?" his question was laced with an evident amount of concern.

Steven chuckled, "Are you offering?" he clarified by pointing at the spork.

Ruby blinked curiously, a gleaming smirk curling his lips, his eyelids fell half-lidded with amusement. "Sure, I'm offering," he nudged the spork closer to Steven, "here you go."

The scarlet-eyed coordinator was thoroughly convinced the moment being shared between the two was entirely playful, Ruby flinched in surprise as Steven clamped his mouth on the spork, drawing away and munching slowly. The utensil was left in the air for a few seconds before it fell back on his plate, appetite lost Ruby pushed aside his tray of food in honest astonishment. Ruby pressed his non-cheese-coated fingers on his eyes, his palm covering his face from the reddening heat creeping on his cheeks. Steven had been smiling innocently throughout, his ice-blue eyes directed to the newspaper nearly tipping off the rim of the table, the page left intact on the comic section. The perfect distraction came from the buzzing in Ruby's pocket; he fished out the pokénav, scarlet eyes reading the message illuminating the screen. With a mischievous smile, he scurried away to the Center's computer nearby.

Steven's focus followed Ruby, shrugging he snatched the newspaper, eyes idly scanning the pages for a moderately interesting article…his heart sunk when he spotted an article on Slateport's museum. He leaned closer, deeply absorbed in the bodies of text. He pursed his lips at the toll of accidents, feeling disappointed he failed to prevent Aqua's damages on Slateport, grumpily he tore the next pages stuck together from dried jam smeared over the corners. Ruby returned quickly to reclaim his seat, wordlessly occupied sorting the printouts in size order.

* * *

Skarmory tore at the meat of a fried drumstick, its taste buds searching for the bird pokémon the meat it is most distinctive to, a strand of fried flesh hung loosely on its beak. Aggron ransacked the parcel, finding bite-sized pieces of iron ore to consume, throughout its munching it stared pointedly at the steel bird.

_'You cannibal.'_

Skarmory tore off another helping of the meaty drumstick, pausing before swallowing for its glare to radiate._ 'Bite me.'_

Ruby surveyed Skarmory awkwardly, "I suppose your pokémon has no qualms eating something close to its own kind?"

Aggron roared in laughter_, 'And what! Even the pipsqueak human agrees with me!'_

Steven flicked another red kibble aside in preparation for Metagross' breakfast—only Cradily, Armaldo, and Metagross had the patience to be served—blankly he directed his attention to Skarmory, "Not at all. I realized when Skarmory was a fledgling it enjoyed the taste of roasted torchic—just so you know, it was for a special occasion we served those!—and…err…well, the portions served around was being eaten by my steel-plated friend over there," Skarmory egotistically straightened its body, vividly smirking at its priding recollection, to which Steven ignored. "I was in a heap of trouble with my father…at least it made me realize Skarmory is keener having the meat of flying types than any other pokémon."

Aggron's folded its arms together,_ 'I knew I should have eaten you.'_

Skarmory bemusedly chucked the bone at the steel beast, _'I heard from Steven you made sure no one approached my egg, you were afraid someone might _crack_ it. That's right, I _know_ about it.'_

Steven narrowly dodged Aggron running rampage inside the room, heatedly chasing the cawing steel bird fluttering its wings freely and mocking Aggron's lack of agility, its large metal clawed hands swiped through the air to restrain the flying pokémon in its grasp. True to his word, Steven and Ruby strolled the town for anything that resembled the meat of birds, the small bucket slathered in grease made the pair cringe in mild disgust; the excess odor compelled the former champion to stride the town with his arms outstretched to repel the foul odor away from his nose. The tremor caused by the steel's beast angry trampling had little effect on the witnesses idly fixated on the riot, Steven swerved through Aggron's aimless midair slashing to resume normally deciphering the braille encoding despite the commotion his pokémon caused in the background. Ruby already suffered through near faint heart attacks with the ditzy, if not outrageously freighting, clay pokémon levitating his victimized pokémon in the air, including falling victim himself if Claydol's multiple eyes caught the slightest glimpse of the child trainer-coordinator nervously backing away.

Unlike Claydol's deranged antics, the commotion had barely fazed him. The arch of his shoes rested on the thin edge lining of the desk, tipping his chair back a few inches off the hardwood floor, softly he would rock forward and back whilst his focus was deeply absorbed stitching the fabric to Coco's wear for the contest. The needlework last night earned him few pricks on his fingers conforming to the dim lamp light to work, the icicles pricks were fading from his skin, he had an immediate recovery from the needle injury as well. He curiously peered over to the former champion silently scribbling on sheets of paper, having the desk occupied with different variants of needles and thread, Steven resorted using the newspaper for a substitute writing support.

Ruby had the slightest temptation to sort through his belongings for his glasses, Steven's fair skin tone covered the discolored patches of white on his hands from the distance, having no explanation to the events that occurred prior to the blunette's bonded ice conundrum still had him uneasy. He set Coco's clothes down on his lap, the needle jabbed within the extra material sown into the wear, he closed his eyes and counted from ten to ease his unsettling irritation. Just how much longer would he have to allow Steven to see through his every problem – whether it be his shaky friendship with Sapphire, the awkward moments between himself and Wally, or his terrible family relationship with his father before the former champion finally shared several his own ups-and-downs? The trainer-coordinator growled under his breath, his lips pursed of the logic between one another: he deserved the right to know, he deserved every right after being overly concerned of Steven's wellbeing.

Steven looked like he was caught in the fury of a hellstorm: the wet tattered suit, the soaked hair, the deeply embedded skin-penetrated inflicted bite wound, the ice nearly killing the last remaining sensation coursing through his fingers to his writs…

Scarlet eyes flicked overhead, the wooden ceiling beams homed a perched Skarmory flaunting its wings at the roaring Aggron, he blinked dazedly at the steel-plated flying pokémon crowing bemusedly. He let his legs fall back, the tipping chair resting properly in place, the clothing piece set aside on the table as he padded across the room to collect the prints resting inside his sling backpack. By joining the blunette's side, the bed creaked upon the weight of another occupant, his lithe body fit perfectly between the bedpost—or the beams structuring the second bed bunk above—and Steven, curiously he scanned the paper for anything remotely interesting.

Realizing the presence of the child, Steven flashed a warm smile.

Ruby grinned back, between his forefinger and thumb he waved the printout in the man's face, the inviting smile he received from Steven twitched downward. The printouts were made available by Mr. Stone the day he caught Steven fast asleep in his office after Ruby disappeared to Dewford, the interrogation for the child's location exhausted his tolerance to no end.

Steven offhandedly snatched the printout from Ruby's possession, his oceanic-blue eyes bulging in a mingled amount of confusion and terror. "He…when was I…how…ugh, he is such a horrible father with a crude sense of humor."

"They're going to be the new holiday cards for the company. I already suggested to Mr. Stone he should serve cakes with your photo as an edible icing sheet. You know, the ones that you customize with whatever photo and it looks like it's printed on the cake? He said he loved the idea," he quipped deviously, a childish form of revenge having to be uninformed well deserved.

Steven gawked in disbelief, "You two are spawns of everything that is evil and unjust for my behalf. What have I ever done?"

As much as he wanted to, Ruby contained the urge to roll his eyes. He seized the opportunity of Steven's minor distraction of the printout to snatch his wrist; he unfastened the inner dress shirt cuff's two buttons before folding the cuff forward to inspect the loosely hanging bandages a few inches above Steven's wrist. He tugged the bandages forward to unravel the bite wounds, the pile circling from the single strip on the bed teeming with splotches of red blood tainting the once pure white absorbency, the marks where the fangs were embedded failed to heal overnight from their raw redness of beading blood.

Ruby glared darkly at the former champion, in respond he looked away guilty for the lack of care invested on the bite wound, sighing he asked Steven clamp the sleeve of his suit and roll the undershirt a few inches above his elbow. Several moments after rummaging the room for the first-aid kit, Ruby patted the wound with a dampened rubbing alcohol cottonball. He was grateful the injury was nothing overly disgusting, he would never have the stomach to clean a wound from a sharpedo or another pokémon of the like with jaws so fearsome, the sting earned him a sharp hiss from the injured. He frowned intently at the damage from the mightyena bite on Steven's arm…

The trainer-coordinator was left in the dark of the man he adored sustained injures…

…it just wasn't fair.

* * *

Coco mewed softly at her master, she crooked her head gesturing Ruby to look in the direction of her sight, the town's clock struck at half past ten. He left the needlework of Coco's wear on the table to practice and enhance her performance for the contest – her tail would fall too suddenly when she practiced her feline waltzing, on other occasions Ruby reminded her to have her head tipped up for an elegant and grand appeal: the constructive comments he offered the pokémon distracted him from the hours wasting away until the dawn of a new day would arrive, his final day he could practice until the contest. Her outfit was nearly complete, he needed to thoroughly create a vivid display for the contest judges. The ongoing reminder of the ticking hours before the contest put a damper on his mood, he was confident he could win this contest—Coco's beautiful flare could not be compared, she flaunted her lovely evolved feline body ever since she had contact with Steven's moon stones—the confidence was being weighed down by the harsh realism.

Two days he had, the time limit reduced to one day after night fell upon Slateport, at one point he needed to concoct several pokéblocks that could polish and enhance Coco's beauty according to her taste as well. Her fur would glimmer with a thorough brushing, the added of pokéblocks would provide enough nutrients to silken her fur, the glint of her eyes would radiate a healthy glow from the additional effects, and her purple ruff-like collar needed to be maintained with precise berry balancing nutrients to retain its current royal purple shade – without the proper care the shade would delve into a pale and unhealthy hue of wisteria. Ruby scratched behind her long ears with a notably light smile, the delcatty purred affectionately as she closed her eyes appreciatively.

"You deserve some beauty rest. Tomorrow will wrap up our practice, I know you're going to be spectacular," he cooed supportingly. He flashed the pokéball from his pocket, the pokémon's small nose pressed on the white protruding button, the red beam securing the delcatty inside its capsule. Resizing the pokéball back to a miniscule size, he stuffed the ball back into his pocket, his scarlet eyes lazily scanning the desolate nightlife of the once lively morning port city. Stifling a yawn from his laborious afternoon, he trotted past the museum after pausing to stare at the extra damage caused by Metagross' hyper beam the previous night ago. In his opinion, Metagross seemed like the more civilized member of Steven's party next to Armaldo and Cradily, the large steel pokémon would have never caused collateral destruction without cause: the thought was unnerving, for all he knew all last night he could have been watched without any form of awareness unless Metagross tried to intervene with its attack.

Shaking his head, he skittered a beeline apart from the closed vending stands to the Pokémon Center. As if his footsteps were heard, Metagross opened the door having hooked its claws on the door knob. Silently offering his gratitude, Ruby seated himself near the only workspace provided in the room; he rested his elbows on the desk, his fingers pressing into his closed eyes. Tired, exhausted, a lackluster amount of energy to finish Coco's wear than to invest the last remaining hours of the day to sleep his itching fretfulness away. Metagross settled back into the corner of the room, Ruby slipped his hands back to his side, he cocked his head almost envious Steven had no time limit worrying him any. Too engrossed with the documents splayed in his bed, Steven barely offered him a nod of acknowledgement of his late return…and it was alright, his focus was ebbing away regardless to consider whether or not the former champion accepted his presence.

Ruby trudged inside the bathroom sluggishly, he tossed his clothes and beanie on the rack to indulge the warm bath blissfully drowning his worries, he lolled his head back on the rim of the tub and stretched his legs to fully absorb the peaceful relaxation he deserved. He would have taken longer after bemusedly gathering the soap bubbles in his hand or swirling the water with his fingertip if it weren't for the nagging reminder of Coco's contest wear to be completed, so he halfheartedly drained the water inside the bathtub and slipped on the oversized shirt. Adjusting the beanie on his head, his finger brushing over the leathery-feeling scars, he padded across the room to the desk to continue his work.

An hour felt longer to Steven than for Ruby, needle stitching completely blanked the mind of any thoughts into a mute lull of constant fixed needlework, deciphering a passage entirely of braille with letters that could be one or another was excruciatingly time consuming and a fuel for immediate exasperation. Steven shuffled the teeming papers scattered on his bed into a neat pile before slipping the stack under his bed, he rubbed the bridge of his noise to ease the tormenting anger and pulsing pain in his head having deciphered a few incorrect sentences of pure rubbish. Setting his hand back down, jaded blue eyes flickered over distractingly to Ruby's handiwork in progress; he stared for a few seconds until he hoisted a look at the wall clock.

Eleven and counting.

"You should be in bed."

Ruby nonchalantly shrugged. "I'm busy," he responded curtly, he raised the clothing to indicate his honest stress to finish what he started with the contest wear. "Even if I wanted to sleep, it's not like your cannibalistic friend is going to surrender the bed willingly."

He gazed at the pokémon Ruby was referring to out of the corner of his eyes, his eyelids drooped in mock incredulity. _Again…? _Skarmory was nestled as contentedly as the night before—he wanted to avoid sending the steel bird pokémon back inside its capsule, Skarmory would wreak havoc if it fluttered around the room in blinding rage when attempted to be forcibly returned to its ball: personal experience that will forever haunt him like a plague—and for a quick second he wanted to smack his face with his palm for his pokémon's thick stubbornness. His hands were pecked violently last night; Steven distanced himself from the bunk beds, upholding a neutral and composed expression on his lightly visible weary features.

The blunette flicked the switch to the lamp off, and before Ruby could snap at the intruding presence interrupting his working progress large hands slipped firmly under his arms. The needle and clothing fell on the desk from the abrupt touch, his feather-light weight posed no difficulty as Steven lifted the child-coordinator from the chair, silently and briskly he was steered to the bed. The shock of being handled as such made him temporarily forget to thrash about in the man's grasp, to bark at the forcible treatment to be stuck in bed for another awkward night with someone that made him feel like his heart was about burst open from his chest or the embarrassingly warm pink blush tint his white cheeks. When realization did dawn on Ruby, the drowsiness he felt in the passing hour was taken over by an attentive awareness, upon reflex his legs curled close to his body. Steven absently brought the blanket forward, his arm looming over Ruby's lithe frame to tender cover the child a little past his shoulders.

Ruby faced the wall, Steven rested his chin on a blanket-covered bony shoulder, his arms wrapping around the coordinator's waist to prevent nighttime escapes to the comfort and sanctuary of the contest clothing. Ruby closed his eyes thoughtfully, nervously he gulped the lump in his throat, the anxious tension lodged in such a predicament had his fingers going cold despite the warmth of the blanket.

"Your suit is going to end up wrinkly if you sleep with it," Ruby pleadingly mentioned. _So please get the hell away from me and sleep with Skarmory or something!_

"I'll order a new one," he drawled sleepily_._

Ruby shifted restlessly, the binding around his torso prevented him from edging closer to the wall, his breath hitched instantly when the man nuzzled in the crook of his neck.

"You really need to stop wasting money, Steven…"

The blunette yawned, his warm breath rushing past Ruby's ear.

Back straightened from the chill running down his spine, Ruby's fingers curled under the foldings of the cotton bed sheet cover_. _"Can you let go…?"

Steven shook his head. "You will only end up working the night away, you need your sleep. I'm making certain of it," he affirmed by pressing Ruby closer to himself, his legs brushing against the child's coiled legs.

Sighing through his nose, Ruby closed his eyes and tucked an arm under the pillow to elevate the plushed comforter.

* * *

Ruby appreciated the ample space separating himself from Steven as the man's hold loosened early morning, after the next two hours he squirmed away from the loose embrace, biting down on his lip when the creaking noise the bed created ripped through the air when maneuvering past the other occupant's body taking most of the space offered. He slipped in bathtub, rushed into clothes, and immediately called out the yawning feline pokémon from its ball to accurately stitch the final measurements. The clothes the Chairman gave him were deemed valuable to include in his pokémon's wear, silently he trimmed away the extra inches off the clothing piece that overlapped his initial planning for Coco, his early morning working progress caused him to ignore the thought of a warming breakfast to fill the hungering protest rumbling in his stomach. Time was very valuable; Ruby was concocting a last day schedule to fit the requirements for Coco's practice and his own needed relaxation to eat or the like to then finally categorize the movesets for Coco's performance while fitting the required amount of sleep he would need to be wide awake in a burst of energy to perform.

Steven scratched his head lazily, blankly he stared at the dimly noticeable wrinkles on his suit, yawning with disinterest of his appearance he rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Blue eyes glanced over at his steel pokémon staring plainly at the empty food bowl from a distance, a faint smile perked upward, he strode over to the nearly empty sack of pokémon food—he paused, _There was more than this…_—then plopped beside Metagross, his back leaning against the pokémon's large legs whilst he discarded the spicy red kibble pieces into a separate pile for the rest of his party. The mound of red kibble pieces' aroma gathered in a single spot enticed the steel-bird resting on the top bunk awake, keen with its sense of hearing, sight, and smell its large wings unfolded, it yawned its lingering drowsiness away. Skarmory stretched its legs, preening at its feather metallic plates with its sharp break before descending gracefully beside the former champion, pecking at the red kibble pieces ravenously.

Metagross and Steven rolled their eyes, soon enough the bowls were stocked with pokémon food for his party and Ruby's. Coco appreciated the consideration, she mewed contently to rest all fours on the floor, leisurely munching on her food slowly. Steven touched his stomach with a grimace, although unappetizing to eat pokémon food he was growing rather hungry watching the pokémon eat freely while he had to invest additional time to separate the spicy kibble for his food-selective party member. Casting a wayward glance at the child fully absorbed in his own task, he was met with silence after informing the coordinator he would be stepping outside for breakfast, another long pregnant silence registered in the air as he asked for Ruby's choice of breakfast.

Then again, Steven surprisingly overslept for the first time in the past few months. The stands were selling food for brunch; ambient yelling filled the air to advertise its low prices or reviews upon its tastings. He returned to the Pokémon Center with his brunch stored in a plastic bag resting on his wrist but steadily sliding downward on his arm, one arm supported two cups of piping hot coffee and a lemonade, the other free hand used to carry Ruby's breakfast—the stand that seemed opt for selling food apart from wraps, bagels, and sandwiches only sold by plate rather than stored in a foam container—pathetically he tapped the door gently with the vamp of his shoe. He sighed in relief Aggron opened the door, the steel beast swiftly gathered the two cups huddled in Steven's arms, cautiously the former champion backstepped in time before Aggron's tail could cause him to stumble in his tracks.

Ruby held Coco's wear in the air, inspecting the clothing piece by every angle, he then brought it down to trim at a corner that left the piece imperfect. Steven would willingly admit Ruby was doing a fine job, his commoner eyes were ignorant to the appeals of pokémon contest, even during his relationship with Wallace he never comprehended the hype caused by moves used with an extra amount of flare – he eyed the ceiling in thought, Wallace hardly could understand his excitement to rare stones that could neither "move, talk, or feel." He set the plastic bag on his bed, Aggron set the lemonade on the table and Steven set the plate of food right beside the refreshing drink. Aggron grunted at the lack of appreciation set by the working child, it stalked away to resume eating its second helping of food, it snarled angrily as Skarmory was nibbling away the food in the beast's bowl.

The scarlet-eyed child set the clothing piece aside, blinking dumbly at the food appearing in his workspace. He scanned the room, noticing the blunette was munching away at a meaty sandwich.

"Oh…Um, thanks…" Ruby muttered appreciably, albeit tense of his unrelenting focus to realize Steven brought him food throughout the duration of his work. In response Steven nodded, sipping at his black coffee.

The exchanges were kept short and to the point for the remainder of the day.

Having finished Coco's wear for the contest tomorrow, the pokémon and the trainer-coordinator used Slateport's shore to practice moves for tomorrow. Several coordinators gathered in different locations of the shore in preparation for the contest, Coco brushed her cheek on Ruby's leg to encourage him to strive for the best amongst the other competitive coordinators. He fed her several pokéblocks, filed her nails, brushed her fur – he hoped he was ready for tomorrow; his endeavor would result from the effort for both his ambition and will to prove his father wrong once and for all. As Coco practiced her move combination upon orders, Ruby rubbed his hands on his arms violently, scarlet eyes drifting to the vast blue ocean surrounding Slateport.

The warm heat wave in the Hoenn region was near over, the cold was beginning to creep amongst the cities and lower the temperature almost every day, hosting the contest was amongst the worst in Slateport for the port city's winds whisked harshly at the nightly citizens. The other coordinators were retreating into the safety of their homes and the Pokémon Center, only a few dedicated coordinators remained on the beach before the blistering wisps of winds felt like white-hot knives grazing the skin of their arms and legs, their teeth chattering loudly at the evident signs of chilliness. The coordinators that left the shore lacked the proper attire to continue practicing in the midst of the blackening sky. Ruby rubbed his hands hastily for the brief warm relief his cold fingers needed.

His delcatty exerted so much practical energy in her moves she felt nothing but warmth welling in her feline body, she stopped her actions abruptly as she joined her shivering owner's side, her large black eyes gazing intently at the faintly illuminated figure approaching.

"Get inside the Center, Ruby, you will catch a cold at this rate." Steven told the child, his figure fully illuminated by the street lamppost around Ruby's proximity.

Ruby shook his head. "I need one more hour!"

Steven pointed a finger at him, "You're shaking."

_Tsk_. Ruby never bothered searching for a lie to cover his obvious shivering, he returned Coco to her pokéball, whispering praises before the beam of red light engulfed her. Out of the corner of Steven's eyes he caught the child rubbing his hands fervently, huffing his breath on the trembling hands for the brief soothing warmth. This made Steven chuckle silently to himself: he could recall his training sessions with Metang during the freezing conditions, having steel pokémon absorbing cold was his own disadvantage, and in order to preserve heat he would rub his arms or rub his hands to feel the temporary warm bliss.

The anxiety of the contest would have added to Ruby's possible worsening mood to the cold night. He had nothing to complain being exposed to the chilly night weather, being inside the Pokémon Center and its heating radiation provided him enough warmth for hours. The blunette grasped the coordinator's hand into his own, in a quick motion he stuffed both his own and Ruby's hand into his pocket, and before a retort could shatter the moment the former champion spoke first. "I wish you the best of luck, I'm certain you will be fantastic."

The words were caught in Ruby's throat, his cheeks flushed a noticeable shade of pink, and wordlessly he concentrated his attention on the cement paving.

* * *

Ten minutes before the actual performance.

Visual appeal. Performance. Judging. Ruling.

The jittering excitement of the contestants before him giggled loudly, talked amongst each other of the potential mistakes that could occur, or the "I'm so nervous I feel like my heart is going to explode!" banters shared.

The roaring crowd was like a melodic hymn to his ears, the stage was everything he lived for after his willing change for Sapphire, in the audience he did not have to face the outcome alone – the Chairman would be a difficult individual to spot in the crowd for his small height, but he knew he would distinguish Steven most of all…having someone here for him, his ongoing support, was the best feeling in the world. Had he not met the Chairman after Steven's sense persuasion, or had he not met Steven at all, he would be competing—or trying to compete, the Chairman had managed to fit one more competitor—in a contest without a reassuring touch or spark of encouragement to give it his very best. The coordinators were rapidly sent to the stage to give a preview of their stylish theme and pokémon partner.

Hidden behind the velvet blue curtains, Ruby crossed his arms together, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor for his turn. He was the very last contestant to be signed into the contest in the nick of time, the first seasonal contest were always the most crowded contests in the entire region: with the proper ribbon earned an admittance to the other contests are allowed, without the designated ribbon for a specific entry in a pokémon contest, the admittance is barred from entry. Ribbons were the only valid items to progress the ranks until he reached the Grand Festival, as long as he learned enough ribbons he could prove his father wrong – the Festival would be on his own time after his father's reluctant acceptance.

It was his turn at long last.

He exchanged a positive look with Coco, she eagerly nodded and trotted forward along with her owner. The judges were sending approving nods and side comments of Nana's royal wear, that took ages to sow together, her purple ruff-like collar acted like the collar to the cape made of the purple silk material Steven bought at the stands two days ago, attached to the collar of Nana's cape were two dangling feathery puffs to match the cape's added detail of its snow-white faux fur trimmed extensions. She sauntered on the catwalk with an air of confidence; she stopped midway to bring a paw near her mouth, cutely winking at the crowd for double attraction appeals from the judges.

The contestants lined up, Ruby's eyes searched the crowded audience for the Chairman and Steven. Although he could not catch sight of the stubby little man, he was to able to squint his eyes—he would never dare to wear his glasses onstage, it was just…he could never bring himself to do it—he gawked dumbly as he spotted Steven, _Metagross, Aggron, and Skarmory. _For the sake of his composure during the explanation the announcer informed the audience of for the next event; Ruby blinked a few times to confirm whether his eyesight had really gone for the worst throughout the months he was away from home. Skarmory was perched on Aggron's head; Aggron came to accept its fellow member's notion for mischief so it allowed the steel bird to rest near the sharp horn protruding from its head. Metagross idly stared down at the contestants, and Steven rested on steel spider-like pokémon for a better view, however the area Steven's pokémon occupied was left completely unoccupied_—He let Claydol out for awhile, I bet—_a few people seated themselves on the bleachers a good distance away from the intimidating size of Metagross and Aggron. Armaldo, accompanied by Cradily, brought a small bag of popcorn held between its claws. The pair sat behind their trainer, bemusedly munching on the foreign food.

Ruby closed his eyes. He didn't care if anyone detected his widening grin.

* * *

Fallarbor was seldom visited by tourist and trainers in the Hoenn region, the only path that leads to the nearly desolate town would have a person covered head- to-toe in volcanic ash gathered in the bushels of tall grass and trees. The ash would conceal jagged rocks that would cause anyone to stumble over leading to their entire body dirtied by the soot. Marge maneuvered through the ashy trees, she could travel across the town but she needed to avoid detection from the people that could report her to the gym leaders guarding the entrance to Meteor Falls, the black of her Magma uniform camouflaged her amongst the soot from the trainers collecting the substance in a small brown sack to exchange for glass flutes an elderly man in a cottage was offering.

She jumped over craggy edges, chipped boulders, and swerved around the ponds composing most of Fallarbor's natural resources. She hissed at a barboach that squirted water at her red Magma cloak from its mouth, _Water pokémon…_ she thought grimly. Chewing the bubblegum in her mouth, her gloves hands pushed her bangs behind her ears; she spotted the cavern's entrance from Fallarbor's grand mountainous structures. She furrowed her brows in mild irritation, the gym leaders have been taking turns to guard the meteorite within the cave, the past two days she has been running back and forth from her and her partner's hideout. The gym leaders—as it seemed to her—had no intention removing the meteorite from the cave.

The population of solrock and lunatone were simply teeming; the mysterious origins of the stellar shaped pokémon could be connected to the protection of the meteorite. Mitch reported difficulties securing the meteorite some time ago, Maxie proposed the two would infiltrate the cave together would lead to a better success rate, she saved her protest against the Magma leader's commands: it was definitely not worth the headache, she reasoned. Her red gloves were coated with the juice of a tomato berry, the spiciest of all the berries landing a direct hit to the eyes would cause momentary blindness and irritation, she would then use Mitch to distract the two gym leaders standing guard at the cave if she had to and sneak behind their backs. The tomato berry coating would seep through her gloves into the eyes of the leaders: if she worked quickly enough the two Magma admins would be able to retrieve the meteorite and fend off the lunatone and solrock, their combined packs of mightyena will be unaffected if the predominant psychic pokémon dwelling inside the cave tried to use its powers to toss their bodies like ragdolls away from the meteorite.

Marge fished out a handheld transceiver from her belt, her forefinger twiddled the knob of the volume control, her thumb pressed on the transmission button.

"Bring the grunts, we're going in."

The frequency crackled. "Roger that," Mitch said on the other end of the line.

Pocketing the transceiver back on the clip of her belt, she popped the bubble she blew, her smirk curling as her fingers brushed against the plastic baggie stored in a small compartment of her belt. Marge hopped off the ledges of the elevated terrain, _Soon enough…_

* * *

There was one intermission in a pokémon contest: after all contestants revealed their pokémon of choice and displayed a preview of their skills that fit the category of the contest they were admitted into. Rough moves to a beauty contest would have points immediately deducted during the preview, an intermission would settle right after to disqualify the contestants for the next course. He was certain his delcatty preformed her entrance wonderfully compared to a contestant's machop used for a beauty contest; he smirked arrogantly before ascending the stairs to the bleachers. Fifteen minute intermissions were relatively short but enough for a coordinator to gather their wits or prepare to mask the disappointment paining their face if they failed to reach the next stage. Ruby, on other hand, used the intermission to search for Steven.

As he shuffled past the crowd, he could hear the contestants speaking to their friends, he could recognize a few faces that displayed a true endeavor to achieve greatness in the contest, or their nervousness that clouded their choices that lead to the pokémon's confusion and mishaps during the appeal around. His scarlet eyes widened with glee spotting Skarmory prodding at the slumped Aggron resting on the bleachers, the steel beast eyes were closed as if trying to maintain its temper. Armaldo stuffed its claw into the nearly empty bag of popcorn, its hinged claws securing a human handful-portion, the puffy yellow snack falling into the hands of its trainer. Steven popped several in his mouth, he waved the snacks resting on the palm of his hand in front of Metagross' half-lidded eyes, Metagross opened its mouth and grunted gruffly. Steven crouched over; flinging the yellow snacks inside the mouth of his pokémon, chuckling with a mingled amount of amusement and natural surprise Metagross was partially willing to indulge on the foreign food.

Ruby hesitated to interrupt, the scene occurring before his eyes almost made him feel like he…like he did not belong in the scenic picture of Steven's interactions with his pokémon. Metagross grunted loudly, driving the former champion's focus to be steered forward, the man blinked before sending a beckoning wave at Ruby. Instead of balancing his reluctance and his decisions, he drew forward swiftly, Coco following suit of her owner quietly. The feline jumped on the bleachers, Steven's pokémon greeted her with praise she pleasingly absorbed, she nodded her head in acknowledgement of the comments shared between her and the pokémon but politely refused the fattening snacks offered by Armaldo.

Metagross inched forward—Steven remained sitting on the pokémon rather than the bleachers—Steven gingerly smiled, "You certainly have a talent to create an atmosphere for your performance. Splendid job."

Ruby scratched his cheek, inwardly groaning how he could feel his cheeks radiating with warmth. "Th-Thanks…I wonder if I made it to the next round, the competition does make up a pokémon contest…" He knew he made it into the next round, the competition was close to non-existent as it was the first contest of the season where amateurs crowded and would gradually be derailed from the next contest as the hall would only fill with those that met the qualification approval, he just enjoyed greedily fishing for complements out of the man that made his heart race.

Metagross caught the worried sham in the tone of the coordinator's speech; casually it rolled its eyes. Ruby noticed, shooting a glare to silence Metagross from voicing an exaggerated grunt.

"I have the utmost confidence in your abilities," he assured.

Ruby bashfully nodded, "I just have to keep it up, I suppose. Coco's been doing great so far, I've been trying to display moves as beautiful as she is." _Because no other pokémon is as beautiful as my Coco, _he thought bemusedly.

"I noticed, the judges have as well."

"This might sound a little stupid but…" Ruby shifted the weight on his foot uncomfortably, his scarlet eyes focusing on the tips of his sneakers. "You're going to stick around until the end, right? If it bores you, you could…well, just leave and all…"

Ruby nearly squeaked when Steven reassuringly patted his shoulder.

"People have an affinity for battles and contest, while I prefer the sanctum of caves for precious rare stones. This contest has hardly drove me to boredom, however if it is any consolation, you have my word I will be here until the very end," said the blunette, his heartening smile had uplifted Ruby's mood to continue the contest – he inwardly cheered, having someone watching on the sidelines felt better than being alone.

* * *

Twenty minutes passed, the last of the contestants were individually spending their limited time in the spotlight to perform the last of their pokémon's moves to be judged for the final results. Steven reached into his pocket for his pokénav to silence the insistent buzzing—he earned a few glares for the racket the loud buzzing emitted—his tolerance wavered shortly as he spared the screen attention of the persistent caller. He waved his pokémon to follow him to the lobby to receive the call in silence, tapping his foot impatiently at the dial tone ringing for the second time, and upon the third time he was about to dismiss the call to return to the bleachers.

Brawly called him several times throughout the duration of the twenty minutes after the intermission, for all the patience Steven had he would turn snappy if it involved foolishness like surfing the waves of Dewford or the excuse he heard over and over again: "I'm bored" to "I was bored." Steven's party was looking at him peculiarly, cocking their head in mild confusion, their soft mewls urging him to return to the bleachers to witness Ruby's turn at his performance with Coco, and after the third dial tone the call was answered. Before he could greet the gym leader with usual morning formalities, he fell into a quiet hush at the heavy panting on the other line, gulping down the lump in his throat Steven piped, "Hello?"

"…Finally! Listen man, my eye feels like it's on fire. This Magma girl hit me at an angle, so she missed my other eye. We've been trying to fight them off but it's hard when the pokémon in the cave are going at us and them. After getting hit by her, we can't see for anything 'cause of this hellish burn!"

_We?_

"Nobody else is picking up, and we need some major backup right now! You gotta get here ASAP—_oh damn!_ These mightyena have been trying to rip me _limb from limb_ for the past twenty minutes!"

Steven shot a look at Skarmory, the bird's sense of hearing fully able to overhear the conversation shared between Brawly and Steven.

"I'll be there, continue to stall for time until I arrive," he motioned the flying bird to his side, the rest of his party was sent to their pokéballs.

"Hurry! We really can't take much more of this!" the line clicked dead.

Steven sighed through his nose. Metagross strode forward, taking its place beside Skarmory, its large red eyes awaiting further instructions.

Having Team Aqua attack Slateport two nights ago left him troubled, he reasoned they would surely attack once again at one point in the next few days or another, and he was leaving for Fallarbor without informing Ruby of his absence. He hoped not a single Aqua member sighted Ruby for a new prey to use against him, the child's party were not the epitome of strength but rather for appeal, perhaps excluding Marshomp until it evolved into its last fearsome evolution as a swampert, but to settle his uneasiness he wanted a vigilant eye that could guarantee Ruby's safety. Blue eyes fixated on Metagross' blood-red orbs, Steven crouched down to the resting Metagross analyzing its trainer every move.

Steven quirked a beaming grin, "Can I trust you will take care of him?"

Metagross did not answer.

His smile slackened. "I'll be fine. I have everyone looking after my wellbeing; Aggron will save me if I'm trapped in a tight pitch if it comes down to it. So…will you do this for me?"

Metagross nodded.

The receptionist was stirred awake by Skarmory's loud cawing, the perfect timing for Steven to impose on her time to leave her with a note to be given to contestant number twenty: Ruby's registered contest number. He left the note under Metagross' pokéball —years of its usage left the device's color dimly fading, deep embedded scratch marks proof of its long history—and bid the receptionist his appreciation, finally following Skarmory out the revolving door. Skarmory cawed at Metagross before heading into the fresh air first, directly saying to the steel spider-like pokémon, '_Don't worry, we know what to do._'

The discussion shared in Steven's party was well accepted if the worst-case scenario unfolded. Metagross planted its massive body in the corner of the lobby, watching distractingly as its longtime friend would face danger without its presence. The responsibility to care for Ruby made it proud regardless – to be bestowed a task that Steven knew no other pokémon in his party could accomplish unlike itself.

"Thank you, my dearest friend," Steven muttered appreciatively. The revolving doors' clear glass panning allowed Metagross to witness Skarmory and Steven's departure.

* * *

"And that was contestant fourteen! Next is our last contestant, number twenty, and his delcatty! Everybody ready for some more dazzling moves?" the announcer excitedly rambled, the audience roared in their seat.

The elimination process for the contestants ranging from one to twenty-five was unsympathetically short, no more than six had made it to the performance stage of the pokémon contest, the next stage would be the final results where only one winner would be awarded the blue ribbon tucked on the silk cushioned award box resting beside the judges. For all the effort—he would have strove for a stronger achievement if his time limit was not an overwhelmingly short two days—he rested on the feline's shoulders, he was not planning to waltz out of the contest hall without a ribbon tucked away in his sling backpack to prove, once and for all, he was fully capable of making his own decisions: and decision number one would first to implant the very concept in his father's thick skull he wanted no ownership of the gym when Norman retired. Ruby was contently at ease migrating from one city to another than having to live his life confined within gym, challenger after challenger, an endless cycle he wanted no part of.

He regarded the other contestants standing behind the curtains with a mild interest; they had enough potential to remain in the contest, their passion _almost _as strong as his ambition. Coco purred as she rubbed her cheek lovingly on the child's leg, her large black irises glimmering—aside from the light touch of purple glitter lightly dabbed around the ridges of her eyes—with enthusiasm and encouragement. They both walked together on the catwalk, the lights flickering in their direction, Coco padded ahead in response to the trainer-coordinator's orders without hesitation. She craned her neck sweetly, mewed loudly at the spectators that earned her a few coos for her cute charm, the registered pause in the audience delved into a hush whisper as the primed cat lifted her mouth open.

_"Use assist."_

A beam shot out from her mouth, directly towards the dome of the pokémon contest building but stopped midway before the collision, surrounding the beam in a revolving spiral was multiple registered rainbow colored particles giving the beam a shimmering multicolored effect. Whilst the beam projected from her mouth, she raised her paw a few inches off the catwalk, an orb of white forming and doubling in size for every passing second. The light surrounding her paw diminished, sending a swirling flurry of pink petals gathering around the aurora beam, the frenzied speed of both had the motion appear like a dangerous hurricane of the elements. Her jaw clamped shut, sending the petals falling gracefully around Coco as if she was a silhouette in a scene of flower petals fluttering all around, and the aurora beam vanished in a glittering projection lingering around the atmosphere for its rainbow colored hues.

She modestly bowed her head gently, her purple cape combining with the pink flower petals scattered on the catwalk; she mewed once again for the audience to sharpen their awareness her performance was over. In the background Ruby clapped his hands together, resisting the urge to fawn at his pokémon's moves used accurately and beautifully, all according to their practice. He could feel the glaring stares he received from the other contestants, they failed to utilize the use of petal dance and aurora beam together—this was his first contest based solely on luck, he trained Coco to formulate her moves regardless of the different scenarios the other pokémon's moves were—and left it unused, leaving Ruby and Coco planning their glorious stance in front of hundreds of audience members. He would have been readily prepared if he had more time, truly he would have gave the contest his all but improvisations were increasingly necessary under a time limit.

The contestants formed a horizontal line facing the audience, the announcer, and the judges approaching, one of the three judges carried the prize in their hands – if Ruby paid mind to the other contestants, he was certain he was not the only one having their eyes glued to the small wooden box. For a dramatic affect the judge had closed the box during the Ruby's performance—being the last contestant performing—the judge's stubby fingers opened the silver hinge, unraveling the little blue ribbon and its brightly shinning incrusted golden plate decorating the ribbon.

The contestants fidgeted, straightened their backs, their facial expressions faltering forming a mask of neutrality for the results. Ruby offered Coco a lopsided snicker; the palm of his hands were as cold as the dead from the edgy tension. He felt his heart stop as the judge walked over the contestant on the far right side, but he blew a puff of reassurance when the judge only shook the contestant's hand.

One out, five to go.

The contestants stepped back, the numbers greatly reducing, as if they possessed some sadistic humor the judges shook their hands with the contestants at random rather than wishing them the best of luck in an orderly line. Ruby held his breath, the girl beside him confident as he was a few moments ago throughout Coco's performance, his scarlet eyes left the focus of the judges to his sneakers…

"And the winner for the Slateport's beauty contest…"

The girl took a step forward, hardly noticeable by the rest of the crowd.

"Congratulations, may your pokémon's elegance prosper for contests to come!"

Ruby may have been staring at the floor with an impulsive fascination but he could not deny the sight of the brown prized box pushed in his focus, covering his sneakers from view. His head tipped upward, his fingers plucking the ribbon from its plushed cushion, its golden plate reflecting his crimson orbs.

Coco stood on her back legs, her two front paws clapping in a human-like attempt.

_Yes…_he clenched his hand shut, the small ribbon hidden from view, _I won!_

The momentary excitement replaced the notion of searching the crowd for Steven.

* * *

He casted the interviewers away with a tearful farewell, his father could tune the television and find his location in a heartbeat; he lived for pokémon contest and the fame he could gain from the contest. It tore his heart in half seeing the interviewers padding across the lobby to the revolving door exit, melodramatically he wiped an invisible tear out of the corner of his eyes realizing the limitations his success can be attainted. Coco laughed at her owner's evident disappointment rejecting the camera from filming her and Ruby's feelings throughout the contest to the very last moment victory was his. Leaning against the wall, briefly nodding and thanking the audience members congratulating his victory, or sending approving nods for the Slateport citizens to inspect Coco and touch her luscious cream-colored fur.

The lobby cleared out painfully slow, the audience members would socialize with other people waiting in the lobby, happily he chatted with the little Chairman, thanking him gratefully for his contribution to Coco's cape. The Chairman wandered into the crowded groups, eager to invite new members into the Pokémon Fan Club, Ruby watched the stubby man trotting passionately with a faint amused smile. The crowd eventually dispersed, leaving the receptionist busily clicking at her keyboard to insert the data of the contest results into the aged computer, while Ruby was tapping his foot impatiently against the floor, his eyebrows furrowing bitterly. The receptionist dipped her hand over the counter for a peppermint in the plastic candy bowl. Her lazy brown eyes widened in surprise, her movements hectic as she scrambled through her desk remembering the responsibility bestowed upon her earlier.

She pushed her glasses slipping off the bridge of her nose from the hasty, cluttering search, her workspace a catastrophic disorder, and the ponytail that kept her hair tied back messily loosened a few strands of hair falling on her face. "Contestant number twenty…?"

Ruby peered forward, blinking boredly from the ongoing wait. "That's me…" he trailed off, assuming she was going to congratulate him on his victory, his mind preoccupied on Steven's whereabouts.

"Yes, well, ahem…" she placed a single pokéball and the attached note on the brightly burgundy counter, "This was left for you."

Ruby pried himself away from the wall, Coco following behind him; curiously he pressed the button of the pokéball to increase its size and release the unknown pokémon within the capsule. He pressed the button again, caught in mid surprise and silence as a metagross was released from the ball, red eyes plainly staring at the similar pools of red.

"Metagross, is that you…?" Metagross nodded glumly.

"What are you…why aren't you with…" he pressed the button for the last time. The pokéball returned to its diminutive size, securely he pocketed it away.

_I hope everything went well._  
_You will be left in Metagross' care._  
_I'm sorry._

_-Steven_

The slanted handwriting was clearly written urgently, the man he knew would write more than this: he was in a rush, Ruby figured this much. Ruby closed his eyes for a brief moment, inhaling sharply, and raggedly breathed out before reopening his eyes.

Metagross rarely displayed its emotions publicly but its eyes were welling with pity receiving the end of Ruby's strained facade of unbothered normality from the situation.

The trainer-coordinator quietly tossed the note in the waste bin. _What was I expecting? Actually telling me what's the emergency?_

Ruby stuffed his hands in his pockets, avoiding Coco's concerned gaze.

_No, of course not._

* * *

**A/N**: (D/P MANGA ARC, HURRY AND FINISH TO GET SOME HG/SS SCANS UP. D;) I said I was gonna make it up, and yet I felt like the beginning-ish about it sucked so hard. And please don't remind me of the length of this chapter, it's outrageous but I didn't want to drag this out any further.

**Bad news**: Updates will take some time now. Before school did take my time but I got rather lazy, now that enthusiasm (as stated before: once I reach a certain point in a story, chapters are much easier to construct) is being replaced by busting my ass off. My first week of school went great, but now I have the hardest teacher in the building to improve myself at English/Lit, and trust me…it is very difficult to keep track of my free time and her homework. My other teacher gives homework every day, and the other one involves math…my weakest subject and science (guess what! It's physics I'm stuck with now…) And as much as I want to write on FF, it just might not work out (it doesn't mean I'm going to leave this fic behind! My god, never!) I'll definitely try to keep my end of the bargain because you guys are holding yours with your reviews. Really, I'm deeply sorry about this.

**Good news?**: After much debate, I might probably get around making a Green/Red fic later in the future. ._. I'm gonna need something until Pokémon reaches its ninetieth episode where it tends to show the head bosses/main antagonist. Cyrus did. I hope Ghetsis and N will appear too :3


	14. Out of control like wildfire

**A/N**: Cutting random rants aside, here's the next chapter. And if all goes according to plan, angst is gonna come up now (or not? -shrugs-). After squeezing fluff in for the last time and some tidbits of humor every now, but to be honest it was all just a ploy to cover up dem moments when things get asdfghjkl;' if I write it right. But anyway, this time I'm gonna answer to my anon reviews 'cause it's been bothering me I couldn't. Trust me: if you guys had accounts, I would be replying like I do to all. You people are wonderful.  
**Edit**: So I was working little bits of this chapter everywhere for the past month, the flow isn't coming back to me after leaving it off for weeks now. Forgive me, I'll try to make the next chapter more fulfilling (because it's common knowledge chapter fillers never gets good reception or generally liked...)  
**Replies**:  
_Wisteria_ - Thank you kindly~ But lulz, you and most people do but everyone knows things don't always end up that quick and simple. If it did, this fic would have ended a long time ago. Although this chapter doesn't have much, I hope it can be equally alright with you.  
_Kuro_ - Oh thanks! That's very flattering, I generally reread fics when I'm head-over-heels in love with the story. And don't worry about, the simple fact you spent a few minutes of your time to compose a reply makes me happy, like most FF authors do. We feed on reviews, like I do to remind me someone appreciates my dribble.  
_Felicia_ - Thank you, thank you. Naivety is such keyword I've been hearing, but it was mostly mentioned in a positive aspect, so I'm going to assume everyone is alright with it...well, hopefully. This update may not turn out as good as the last chapter, but since I'm typing this up as we speak, I will at least deliver a new chapter :)  
_Sivi_ - Glad to hear it :3 Sad to say but the fluff will not be coming for a good amount of time, maybe 4+ chapters including this chapter? Lawl, the reward would be too good to be true. I'm glad you pointed that out, but I've been planning the moment for several chapters prior to this one. I just needed time to get there, and this chapter might provide some tiny bit amount of information. And best of luck to you too! We're on the same boat, so we both can understand one another's pain. :B  
_LiliaShaymin_ - Glad my effort went somewhere~ Oh no, none of that yet. As much as people anticipate that, and playing the role of an evil ff author, I must prolong these romantic events a little after things get gritty. I r evil. But anyway, thank you, I need all the luck I can get! x,x  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 13  
**

︵

If there's a hole in your heart  
You gotta pull it together  
It takes the courage to start  
But now is better than never  
It takes a push and a shove  
Somehow it's never enough  
And it's alarming how quick you could forget that

x./My Favorite Highway - Bigger than love\.x

* * *

"—to expect a cold front along the southern-west coast of Hoenn. It is not advisable to travel the cycling road for this afternoon's ninety percent chance of—"

Biting the inner core of the smooth melted chocolate inside the truffle, the child's attention ebbed away from the television to the vast amount of members crowding the small cottage, distractingly absorbed in their conversations, a behavioral pattern shared between themselves and their pokémon. Unlike the creatures lazing on the carpet floor in all their charming glory and adoring features, Metagross shifted restlessly attempting to occupy an amount of space that the new members would have no reason to approach, it was evidently uncomfortable subjected to the ongoing uneasy stares focused solely on its presence. Ruby's eyebrows creased from the unnecessary attention Metagross gained in the room, the atmosphere tense and heavy from their hushed whispers, Ruby hurriedly interrupted a chat between a fan member and the Chairman.

Having little time in the lobby of the Contest Hall to form a proper conversation, Ruby seized the opportunity a few hours later to return to the cottage to spare his words of gratitude before departing on a solo quest to the next city. The Chairman laughed gingerly, his small height and bubbly laughter made his chest heave heavily as he too offered several reassuring words. The Chairman's contagious bright smile had the corner of Ruby's lips faintly perk upward. Registering the Chairman's number and information into his pokénav, Ruby briskly waved at the small man, glaring daggers at the false pokémon lovers inching away from the large steel pokémon closing its eyes in a fruitless attempt to ease its nerves.

He desperately needed to be in good spirits instead of dragging his feet into the next city as disheartened as he felt; the notion of the sudden abandonment had his body stiffen, his fingers going deathly cold from the void of disappointment following him like an imaginary black cloud hovering over his head. Metagross nudged its head behind the trainer-coordinator's legs, the boy toppled backwards on the pokémon's head in an awkward sprawled position, his scarlet eyes blinking slowly at Metagross' silent choice of actions. Pushing himself forward in a proper sitting position, his eyelids fell half-lidded in deep thought – Ruby tenderly ran his hand over the cold steel exterior that composed the pokémon's body.

Metagross' red eyes peered forward briefly; a flurry of memories rushed at once of its days as a beldum: the acceptance of kindness so foreign, it had only accepted such emotions from Mr. Stone, Steven, and its fellow companions. The scarlet-eyed child was an oddity himself through and through: to compete in contest to prove his worth, subjected his pokémon in battles against his former morals that battles was a sport left for savages, and a firm judgment of pokémon that fit the criteria of beauty. Metagross was a ferocious pokémon with a power to be feared, it lived for battles all its life, the members in the Pokémon Fan Club persistent gawking made it clear it possessed no trace of "beauty" or "cuteness." Yet, despite all the flaws, it was given the utmost amount of kindness from Ruby, in return it would uphold its trainer's expectation to protect him amongst anything.

Metagross lacked the communication skills to console the dispirited trainer-coordinator—and by no means would it turn over a new leaf to be the cuddling type, Metagross mentally cringed at the absurd notion—and it was not heartless pokémon either, but the least it felt it could do was lead Ruby through route 110 to Mauville. The remainder of the next two hours before the official leave was in Slateport, from eating a decent set of meals that could last the pair the remainder of the trip to merely gazing at lively aspects that made Slateport a wondrous port city, and then finally resting on the beach dreamily gazing at the rushing waves brushing against Metagross' claws. The distance between Mauville and Slateport was nearly a two-day walk by foot, the cycling route extended so far that the remainder of the trip returned back to trekking until the travelers pitched their tents for the night, but with a skarmory the trip was shortened by a continuous hour's flight. Metagross' hovering capabilities had the same amount of luck traveling by foot except reduced the walking distance by a couple of hours.

Within half an hour reaching route 110 without any indication of turning back, a drip of water suddenly fell on the bridge of Ruby's nose, scarlet eyes refocused on the cloudy gray skies encompassing the route that stretched to the faint colored spots of Slateport from the distance. The water droplets slowly devoured the muddy trail through its heavy shower, the pair secured a temporary shelter under the bridge of the cycling road to avoid the scattering rain from soaking his body further than it already is, the windy breeze rushing past his bared arms had his teeth chattering. The gusts of wind swayed the rain in his direction rather than landing straight for the grassy terrain, he screwed his eyes shut to obscure the persistent awareness of the cold creeping on his soaked body, his toes curled reflexively despite his socks already dampened from the rain.

Unfastening the sling backpack looped over his neck and resting on his shoulder, his hand fished inside the smallest pocket, the rain luckily had not seeped through the thick material of the carry-on. His fingers tugged at the handkerchief inside the pocket, Metagross' eyes shot open when the dry cotton material ran over the bumpy steel ridges around it eyes, its red irises focused on the small, childish fingers sweeping at the dripping water running over its large silver metal 'x' adorned on its face. After pocketing the damp handkerchief, he tugged the beanie off his wet hair, twisting it in a knot to squeeze the excess amount of water the material of the headgear absorbed. Metagross respectively settled its gaze on the thick mass of wet grass while Ruby slipped back the beanie on his head.

"This sucks," he drawled moodily, "I should've listened to the weather. I bet I look like a drowned linoone. My socks feel all gross, my hair is wet mess, and my clothes are a soaked disaster. Can this seriously get any worse?" His eyebrows knit together as he pointed an accusatory finger at the sky, "That was a rhetorical question, not a challenge."

Metagross stared at Ruby, slightly worried the weather caused its companion to go a little mad. Then again, it hardly spoke, and even when it vocalized with other humans—although that itself was a very rare occasion—their human speech and its pokémon speech were two entirely different forms of understanding: Steven barely got the gist of his pokémon's arguments, namely Aggron and Skarmory, and settled rather peacefully on the resolution that the two bickered as a form of friendship shared between the two steel-type creatures. After scanning their surroundings the pair noticed other foolish or ambitious travelers used the bridge of the cycling road as shelter from the rain pounding harshly on the steel beams: rubbing their arms, shivering violently from the wisps of wind rushing past their fragile bodies. Others relied huddling near the little amount of warmth their fire pokémon provided and the heat that radiated from their bodies. Ruby patted the head of the steel pokémon to gather its attention; he spotted a cavern opening hidden behind the large trees after putting on his glasses that gathered tiny droplets of rain on the lens.

Metagross pleasantly grunted its approval.

The trainer-coordinator muffled his hearty giggle with his wet hand: hovering in the air across the body of water surrounding route 110 was humorous with a metagross: the way its legs connected back to its body but pointed directly forward, the seriousness of the pokémon that appeared like a flying saucer with odd protrusions surrounding its disc-like body. Everyone traveling was preoccupied in their own matters for shelter and warmth to gawk at the hovering metagross approaching the cave; it continued to hover in the direction of the cavern until it felt a light patting on its head again.

"Go back…" he muttered curtly, he leaned closer on the opposite side of Metagross' present focus. The steel-pokémon hovered in the air, unmoving, waiting for an appropriate order.

"Go back!" Ruby barked, voiced laced with sudden urgency rather than rudeness.

Metagross followed Ruby from a distance once the child scrambled off its head upon returning to cycling road, inwardly it groaned spotting the human child snoozing on Ruby's back. She had managed to sleep soundly in the terrible weather, her clothes soaked by the unforgiving rain, the combusken loyally following its unconscious trainer, and its long claws menacingly raised if it sensed any form of suspicious actions from the trainer-coordinator. Ruby nervously shuffled under Metagross' scrutinizing inspection, "She's shivering," he paused thoughtfully, weighing his choice of words, "I…you can't expect me to leave her here. She—Sapphire is…"

Metagross' expression displayed not a single trace of concern, it had one single priority and that priority did not include outside manners. It reasoned how much compassion Ruby was willing to offer for a being that resented his existence: kindness should be given to those deserving.

From limply staring at his mud-streaked sneakers, he raised his sight on the hardened red eyes of the steel-pokémon; he frowned deeply on the opposing creature's unrelenting will to avoid assisting Sapphire. "Saph means more to me than you could ever know; I'm willing to do anything to make sure she stays safe. I…" his focus shifted to the side, his face riddled with guilt. "…I owe her that much."

Metagross turned away; it had every intention to halfheartedly accept another addition on its back.

"She means just as much to me as Steven does to you."

The steel-pokémon flinched, swallowing the last few words the child offered him; swiftly it set its body on the patch of wet grass, idly listening to the clamor of Ruby and the combusken situating Sapphire safely before departing for the open cavern.

* * *

Combusken ignited a spark of fire on the heap of twigs Ruby gathered, he called Nana to use her body as an ample support under Sapphire's head, her bushy tail brushing the chestnut hair splayed around the girl's eyes, Coco used her fur to absorb as much water that coated Sapphire's barren legs. Ruby fished out a hairbrush from his backpack, with a faint grimace of disdain he plucked the specks of gravel and leaves gathered in the brown tresses—"Saph, would it kill you to be a little bit more concerned with your hair? I mean, honestly…" he grumbled childishly to the unconscious girl—the muddy residue dried in a sandy texture on her faintly noticeable cheekbones, smudging her clear sun-kissed complexion, scowling he wiped off the thin sheet of dirt caked around the ridges of her closed eyes. She stirred occasionally, guttural groans shattering the engrossed silence shared between the pair and the pokémon. She would stop occasionally and curl her body in a ball, her petite frame shivering from the gusts of wind rushing inside the cavern.

He pressed his hand on her thin arms but he retracted his hand almost immediately, as if he dipped his hand in scorching hot water: her body temperature needed more warmth inside the cavern—Nana and Coco were not enough to provide enough heat to the deathly cold girl—he sprinted for the exit. Even if he allowed the rain to enveloped him in a drenched state he called Metagross outside to use it psychic abilities to plant a large bolder on the cavern's entrance to block the wisp of unsettling winds rushing inside. Metagross had to retain its concentration with coordination by barricading the entrance with the large bolder while it tried to maneuver inside the cave itself.

Combusken ignited the extra wooden heap of twigs in a rapid flurry of fireballs spewed from its beak, the large flightless pokémon would nod away into sleep, its large eyes frequently checking the safety of its trainer. Sapphire rested soundly on the large steel pokémon's flat head in place of the floor, the sharp-edged pebbles dug into his body and yet he willingly sacrificed resting on Metagross for Sapphire. His eye twitched, the cavern's floor was dusty from the minerals and the suffering absorbing the weather, he was sure if he stood up to inspect his clothes his back would be completely dirtied. _For Saph_, he reminded himself, _she's going to go be on her way soon anyway…_

Reassuringly he realized Sapphire would need his assistance to remove the bolder from the entrance, his fleeting smile replaced by a deepening frown: how could he forget? Sapphire intended to find the pursuit of strength in herself and her pokémon, her party would be pokémon of ruthless strength with enough patience to deal with the wild child she became. Her pink dresses, the white frills her skirts were adorned with, the lace headbands on her beautifully maintained ashy brown hair, the glint in her childishly wide blue eyes—Ruby smiled lightly: her eyes were not just any _blue _but the soft blue of the beckoning night sky that would eventually cast the horizon in a thick black blanket—he was afraid to touch her unless vitally necessary, _afraid _to ruin the newer perspective that helped her cope with the traumatizing experience snatched by an aggressive salamence.

He turned his back on Metagross and Sapphire, Nana and Coco—they returned to their owner's side after Sapphire took rest on Metagross—shuffled beside Ruby. Nana allowed Ruby to use her as a pillow, Coco coiled into a ball of cream-colored fur beside the child's arm to warm him. Trapped inside the cavern before the rain settled outside could span the entire day, by luck he would escape the foreboding weather to reach the next town within a couple of hours at the latest with Metagross' speed, then he could battle the bubbly electric-using gym leader, Wattson, and earn his badge after he becomes victorious…

_I'm getting there, Saph, I'm getting there…_

* * *

Sapphire moaned contently, she stretched her arms and straightened her back from the flat surface she fell asleep on until the rain settled, her hazed vision not capturing her surroundings enough to distinguish the remote difference of the cave's walls and the path under the cycling road. The brunette covered her yawn with her gloved hand, her other hand rubbing an eye absentmindedly, her twitching smile for the dawning realization the stormy weather died throughout her calming nap—truth be told, she accustomed herself to various weather conditions. The pouring rain made the grassy terrain difficult to navigate with the scattering twigs flying in the wind that could, at any time, whiplash her across the face. Even without a Pokémon Center, she could easily fall asleep on a beam that supported the cycling road as a final resort—her disoriented vision slowly cleared…

Fear immobilized her actions.

Not a single trace of the brightness in the sky, no gentle breeze running through her hair or the scent of an after-rain shower, the trainers that sought refuge around the beams nowhere to be seen. Her fingers stiffened under the cold steel feel on the tips of her gloved digits, her blue eyes widened considerably at the pokémon's large gleaming red eyes gazing overhead, her hands flew to her open mouth quivering in fear of the pools of red lacking a sense of compassion. The pack around her waist was beside Metagross' leg – all her pokémon, excluding her combusken resting soundly near the entrance, were inside their pokéball: out of reach under the scrutinizing stare.

"Toro!" she shrieked shrilly, the bird-like pokémon rose to its feet immediately and scanned the area frantically for its trainer. Sapphire scrambled off Metagross, her back hugging the cavern's wall, a trembling gloved finger pointing at Metagross. "Ember! _Use ember!_"

Ruby yawned loudly, his fingers rubbing soothing circle on his knitted brows, "Have you always been this noisy…? You wouldn't know but my Nana and Coco need their beauty sleep, thank you very much." His scarlet orbs rested on the fire creature raising its dangerously sharp talons in the air. "Don't you dare harm Metagross. Zuzu can blast you with water and mud pretty nastily, just a fair warning I suppose."

"What d'ya want?"

"_Me?_ An umbrella would be nice, but I could feel _amazing_ if I had a pillow to sleep on. But, if anything, I definitely want you to take a look at yourself—a really good look at yourself—and say, 'Gee, I should really take care of my hair, clothes, and nails more!' Have you ever seen how freakishly long your nails grew at all? And the dirt underneath-"

Sapphire's face turned red with embarrassment. "N-Not like that! Why am I in a cave?"

The trainer-coordinator rose to his feet, pausing a moment to pat the dust off the back of his pants before sitting on Metagross, one leg over the other. "Because no dignified lady should sleep on the grass when it's raining," he shook his head in disbelief, "you should have found another place around the area to sleep. Besides…"

Sapphire cleared her throat. "…'Sides…?"

Ruby's hands clenched into a fist, he focused his gaze on the tip of his sneakers. _"Never mind,_" he seethed. "We're stuck with some pretty ugly weather for the meantime, it might get colder in here but it beats getting poured on by a long shot. So until everything can turn remotely calm, we need to stay put—yes, yes, I know. Your temperament lacks the capacity to be still for even a minute without screaming, but I'm sure you can do it."

"You…!" she huffed angrily, her fingers crinkling; she bit down on her lip to control every ounce of anger reddening her face. "Where do'ya go off tellin' me—I'm leavin' outta here, like it or not."

Sapphire padded across the small cavern to retrieve her bag, the hushed silence echoed the curses she muttered under her breath, the clattering of pokéballs against pokéballs distinctively familiar to have Ruby's body tense. It was a like subtle _dare _for her to call out a pokémon from its ball that could budge the hefty boulder barricading the entrance. Ruby stuffed one hand into his pocket, his fingers hovered carefully over the button of Zuzu's pokéball. He threatened her lightly if her combusken harmed Metagross—Metagross possessed enough strength to have Toro faint within a few minutes, however fire was lethal enough to damage its steel exterior—friend or not, he had an unwavering resolution to fight her pokémon one by one if she resisted. The outside world was too unforgiving: she dropped her defenses sleeping under the beams when too many disturbed people lived in the world that could have harm her…

His paranoia intensified after witnessing her reduced to such a pitiful state. Having Sapphire safe brought an overflowing relief, only now was she determined to break down the boulder to return to the outside world. _Stop being so unreasonable, Saph,_ he thought sourly, his scarlet eyes fixed on her movements. She pressed the button of a pokéball: the ball converted to its handheld size, a bright light illuminated the figure of Sapphire's powerfully intimidating steel beast. Her aggron roared loudly, its cry bouncing off the walls, its large tail raised high in the air as if to break the boulder with its appendage rather than its maws or claws.

Metagross rolled its eyes, unimpressed by the size of Sapphire's aggron unnecessarily flaunting its potency with a loud battle cry. Metagross regarded the beast inferior to Steven's aggron: although it was persistently irritating, it never had to arrogantly display the power it possessed. If it could vocalize, Metagross would elaborate the flaws Sapphire's aggron had—

"Huh. Well what do you know? You have a _small _aggron, Saph, how _cute,_" he teasingly commented, his snicker widening. "You are perfect for each other: equally destructive one way or another. An aggron is violently territorial; I swear the behavioral patterns are so meant to be for you two."

"Shuddup! Rono can take ya down right 'ere, right now!" she growled, baring her sharp teeth menacingly.

Metagross gazed at the trainer-coordinator dubiously.

_I got this, Metagross. Riling her up is the only way to get through her thick head._ Ruby raised a finger in the air, wagging it side to side, uttering disappointed clicks of his tongue. "And that could only be determined through a pokémon battle," melodramatically he heaved a saddening sigh, "_but _I'm not some uncivilized brute compared to the people you might have met-"

Sapphire snorted, "Scared to _lose?_"

Her interruption quieted down his snooty ranting. Sapphire's gleaming blue irises were seriously determined, he countered with a resenting mock-laugh that failed to match the flare in his bloody-red orbs. "Oh contraire, Saph, I wouldn't be the one losing."

* * *

"I cannot even begin to thank you enough, Wattson! Oh no, rest assured, I have everything under control. Err, pardon…? I…I flew past Slateport not too long ago, the weather was perfect…will those two be able to arrive safely…? Ah, disregard that, I was thinking aloud for a split second there!" Steven worriedly bit down on his fingernail; he craned his neck and stared into the distance of the once fully sighted Slateport. The voice on the other line had Steven return his focus over to the direction of Fallarbor's mountains revealing the faintest view of Meteor Falls' entrance, "Excuse me, I was distracted, what were you saying…? No, Wattson, Hoenn has to maintain an image: if all the gym leaders were absent from their post, suspicion would arise in the cities. The last thing any of us needs is for the public to fall into mass hysteria because of Team Aqua and Team Magma."

Skarmory could just picture the humans running around like feeble minded rattata, under the impression life as they know it is doomed having a group of shady characters stereotypically plotting world domination by, if their names possibly applied to their plans, using the elements of Earth. _Oh humans, you are all so crazy._

"Brawly will surely understand. It is very common to have someone preoccupied and blissfully unaware at the most crucial moments, I'm certain you were not the only caller who could not respond back to Brawly immediately…ah, yes, and a good day to you too."

Skarmory descended slowly, it chose the opportunity to question the obscure conversation shared between the former champion and the lively electric-user gym leader. "Skarr?"

Steven sighed through his nose, sluggishly he pocketed away the pokénav, "To make a long story short: the only route to Mauville is suffering from a raging downpour, to make matters worse is this insistent paranoia I have of the possibility the Aqua members are still lingering near Slateport's outskirts. I have every confidence in Metagross, but…"

The steel bird reached the ground, having Steven off its back allowed it the moment to peck at the blunette's head with its sharp beak. "Skarr! Skarr!"

Steven raised his arms near his head, shielding himself from the painful pecks, "Ow, ow! O-Okay, I take that back!"

With a satisfactory huff, Skarmory strode forward.

"Isn't this charming? I'm in an abusive relationship with the pokémon I cared for since it was a fledgling. The appreciation has yet to sink in," Steven snorted, in return Skarmory pecked its trainer harder on the shoulder.

The silly shenanigans aside—Steven clapped his hand over Skarmory's beak before the steel bird could land another flurry of stabbing pecks—the two entered the cave, their eyes flickering about to scout for Magma possibly hidden from sight behind the colossal stalagmites in Meteor Falls. It took every cell in his body to resist having the clamps of his rings activated to collect the rare stones embedded deep within the walls of the penetrable limestone cave. Having released Skarmory's beak, the pokémon regarded him with a mingled look of disbelief and disappointment, its trainer's face contorted in such a way it was evident he was restraining the compulsion to excavate for rare stones to gratify his unhealthy obsession—

"Slaking!"

—and the color drained from Steven's face. His expectations revolved solely witnessing the Magma grunts terrorizing the pokémon dwelling inside the cave to secure the meteorite, the gym leaders left responsible for the protection of the meteorite was bestowed on Brawly—not the brightest thinker around in Hoenn, however his fighting pokémon are a force to be reckoned with—and, as if his downward spiral of luck was not paining him enough, the second gym leader left with the equal amount of responsibility as the first was Norman. No other gym leader possessed a slaking in their party, its laziness was overwhelmingly infuriating to burden but its strength was frighteningly terrifying before it loses it will to fight. The faint trace of denial was diminished completely as he saw an injured, albeit energetically fueled vigoroth using the last of its strength to crush an incoming rock blast by clamping the stone in its razor-sharp claws and shattering its core to crumble completely in its hold.

Skarmory sensed its trainer trapped in an inconvenient daze—almost frozen like a marble statue eyeing Norman lifting himself from from the cold floor, the man's heavy breathing indicating the stress his body endured throughout the remainder of Steven's absence—the lunatone and solrock gathered in large numbers around the gym leaders and Team Magma, evidently angered having the meteorite disturbed from its placement. The sun and moon-like creature's eyes glowed brightly, the embedded stone walls stirred hazardously, several large stones hovered in the air for a brief momentary second before their collision fell around the former champion, the dust of the rocks dirtied the material of his suit and fell in flakes on his hair. Skarmory's wings glowed brighter than its original metallic shine, deflecting the jagged stones in uncoordinated directions.

Skarmory angrily cawed, its eyes narrowing dangerously on Steven, its expression plainly screaming for its trainer to _'Focus already!'_

Steven whispered apologetically to the temperamental steel-armored pokémon heaving its body mightily by spreading its polished steel plated wings—he sent a dismal glance at his side, by the corner of his eyes he would expect Metagross to be right beside him. Having his childhood best friend absent from a battle as dangerous as Team Magma and Aqua's stunts was something taking him longer to acknowledge—his attention momentarily directed towards the large ape crudely stuffing a finger in its round nose. It was next to useless after its will to battle faltered unless somehow enraged enough to continue, but next to a gyarados' rage a slaking's true potential when enraged could be just as deadly – Steven snickered weakly, he valued his life far too much to provoke_ Norman's_ slaking of all pokémon. The approaching mightyena growled viciously baring their yellowing canine teeth, the flicker in their gleaming red eyes filled with near murderous intent. Steven cautiously stepped away from the wicked pack opening and closing their jaws hungrily.

Skarmory extended its threatening cawing forward to the pack of wild dogs, it jumped on its long legs into the air avoiding the chomping maws attempting to reach the steel bird. Skarmory's exposed wings revealed the red-plated feathers, the feathers were spread wide rather than normally compact and fitted close together to then scrape against each other. The steel feathers emitted a harsh sound wave like an insistent ringing: the mightyena's ears keen ears returned close to their matted black furred head. The mightyena began to crane their necks to block the sound, others began to feebly shake from their once threatening stance, and their eyes were screwed shut from the terrible ringing, the pack cried weakly to the sound echoing in their ears. The grunts and admins clapped their hands on their ears, screaming shrilly at the horrible echo resonating in the distance of Skarmory's metal sound. The numel stopped in their tracks blasting the pokémon in the cave with their flames, groaning quietly amongst themselves from the awful sound.

A grunt growled under his breath, "Burn that annoying bird out of the air, Numel!" he ordered his pokémon. The yellow creature opened its eyes reluctantly, a large ringlet of fire was spouted from its mouth, the flaming fire spiraled in perfect coordination at Skarmory.

"Skarmory, watch out for-!" the blunette's worried cry was cut short, the pokéball rattled against the belt of his pants, a bright beam of light indicated his pokémon escaped from its capsule. The silhouette became distinguishable in a matter of seconds, and rather than expecting Aggron, Claydol spun itself close to Skarmory almost instantly. Steven sent an approving nod to the doll pokémon before sprinting across the field to Brawly and Norman's care, the two gym leaders were visibly heaving to the last of their breaths to be able to stand on their own two feet.

The fire stopped midway before reaching Skarmory, the flames outlined with Claydol's psychic, Skarmory had prepared itself to doge the attack even if its metal sound attack would have Magma's regain their standing, Skarmory's initial surprise did stop its attack regardless. The stubby arm-like appendages on Claydol's body hovered a distance away from the doll pokémon, it spun in circles cryptically until it stopped completely, the appendages then slammed against the rocky surface to cause a shaky tremor to the opposing pokémon, the grunts—who quickly began to panic upon the impact of Claydol's earthquake attack that could cause the stalactites of the limestone cave to break off from the ceiling of Meteor Falls—and even Steven managed to stumble while swerving around the towering columns and wide flowstones.

Marge hissed venomously once she regained her composure from Claydol's attack, "I swear my ears were going to bleed." Redirecting her hateful glare to Steven, she whispered quietly to her partner, "He is such a nuisance, no wonder Aqua wants to get rid of our little ex-champion."

Mitch nodded; he fished a pokéball from his pocket. "But where is that metagross of his? He's rarely seen without it."

"Oh? Is that so?" she smirked deviously. "I have a feeling I know where it might be…take his pesky pokémon down, Mitch. I have everything I need from our former champion anyway, but where's the fun without messing with his head a little?"

Mitch raised a brow, "And you are going to do…what exactly…?"

"Once I'm done we'll snag the meteorite for good and make our escape. This has been getting dragged on too long, we're not going to last at this rate because…" her tone darkened, her daunting grimace intensified, she tightened and loosened her fists to lessen the pent-up tension, "that surfing obsessed half-wit didn't just call Steven Stone, he managed to call Hoenn's _current champion _too."

* * *

"I would really appreciate it if you stopped glaring at me, like how rude can you get?"

Sapphire dismissed the scarlet-eyed coordinator's arrogant input; she hesitantly accepted staying inside the cave until her patience wore thin having to swallow Ruby's tactless nitpicking. The heavy downpour outside and whirling winds felt like a better atmosphere to intake than being trapped in a dimly lit cave with a monstrous metagross—its silence unnerved her entirely, its focused red eyes ran a shuddering chill down her spine—and Ruby.

Rono glared daggers at Metagross, _'You don't scare me.'_

_'Have I asked whether I invoked any form of fear in you? No. Hold your tongue lest you regret it,' _Metagross offhandedly responded to the steel beast. It mocked the pokémon with a disinterested look, the cocky confidence surrounding Rono had Metagross disregard its presence as whole – the steel arachnid-like pokémon hardly acknowledged the aggron of an equal level to converse with.

_'What makes you think you're so high and mighty?' _Rono roared heatedly.

Metagross closed its eyes tiredly.

"I might not understand pokémon language," Ruby muttered to Metagross, absently he poked the iron 'x' on the pokémon's face to gain its attention, "but from what I'm seeing, you're riling up Saph's aggron. Quit it, geez…this is seriously not the time of day to be going at each others neck."

Metagross expected, once reuniting with Steven, to be treated with nothing but the most expensive pokémon brand food, a thorough shinning of its jagged metal exterior, and the soil collecting around it claws to be dusted off completely: babysitting—because it most certainly felt like it—was rapidly becoming a tedious chore. Skarmory was at the same age as Sapphire's aggron, it assumed, and the steel beast was grating its nerves with every passing moment with its pettiness. Metagross was grateful pokémon eventually mellowed instead of being filled with spontaneous energy, such as Skarmory—_That mischief maker…— _but Claydol was a strange exception amongst Steven's party having more energy to cause mayhem and heart-attack inducing situations despite being the second oldest party member.

In a few years Sapphire's aggron would reach mental maturity, Steven's aggron was steadily reaching the pinnacle of that state of maturity if it were not easily angered by Skarmory's spiteful antics… Metagross heaved a withered sigh of discontent reflecting on its comrades.

The chestnut haired girl rose to her feet abruptly, she glowered sternly on Metagross angering her precious Rono, her tolerance to be seated patiently before the storm outside had died could no longer be contained. "That's it!" she screeched, unconsciously her quaking fist clenched tightly shut. "'S gettin' really hard to be stuck wit' such a snotty dolt!"

The decently fair mood Ruby had making a one-sided conversation with Metagross was cut short, he jumped off the steel arachnid-like pokémon hastily, the bright grin on his face twitched downward in a darkening scowl. "What did you just call me?"

Sapphire rested a hand on her hip, with her other hand she extended a finger pulling down on her lower eyelid whilst sticking her tongue out, "Ya heard me!"

Metagross distractingly lowered its focus on a tiny pebble, _Arceus, grant me the necessary patience to last the dawn of a new day, _it moodily thought.

* * *

**A/N**: Bell, y u so terrible wid updatez? I had midterms, but finally I'm done with that! [Hey guys! Have you heard of** Pokémon RéBURST**? _Check it out on Bulbapedia_ - it looks so cool~ One of the characters, Hariru, looks like Riku from KH, therefore he's hot. I declare, as a hopeless slash fangirl, for some Ryouga/Hariru lovin' ;D **CHECK. IT. OUT.**]

**A recommendation you won't regret**: if you haven't played_ The World Ends With You_ yet, I_** strongly suggest**_ you get it. I swear, you will all love Joshua and Neku as a pairing. There is a hint one of your partners supports the pairing (Shiki, oh my god she's so awesome being a closet fangirl asdfghjkl;') It's an awesome game, the humor (_Neku: "Must...resist...emo...urges..."_ I lol'd so hard xDD) in there is just amazing, and it has plot twists after plot twists. And who doesn't love a character that (once you reach the end and play the AU version of the characters) acts like a flaming homosexual? :'DD

I know. Huge, ugly a/n. In the end I cut this chapter early, I didn't plan on an extension of this chapter but for now I'm really stumped. I got the main idea, so I guess in cut could do some good...watch me regret it /phail. This chapter, geez! I don't even have any positive input. I'm exhausted to even look at my laptop's screen anymore, so coming from someone exhausted you might spot mistakes. :c


	15. Useless struggles

**A/N**: I spent quite a few days reading Hetalia fanfics/doujinshi nonstop. Oh the sweet goodness. Anyway. For the lulz I got a shirt customized: it's black, in the middle it features The Last Supper in the pokémon version, underneath it says, "ARCEUS. He fainted for your sins." I'm sure you've seen it on google~ Maybe I'll eventually get to posting the image of what it looks like 83  
**Extra notes**: Although my writing is not the best (i.e. mediocre) I do want to thank all the support I've been gaining. Really, I can't thank you guys enough! Err. Longish chapter?  
**Replies**:  
_Felicia_ - It might take awhile to get updates around, but thank you so much for dealing with me. I had so much work, but thankfully writing is an outlet (when I'm not lazy -head shot-) so thanks for sticking around! :) And thank you! Although she might come off mean, it's just for now. I grown to like her now (I actually disliked her before for a long time) but maybe you'll like her around. Who knows~ YES TO THE INFINITE POWER. JOSHUA'S FAGGOTRY HAS NO BOUNDS~ -swoons- (ASDFGHJKL;' JOSHUA IS ACTUALLY IN THE NEW KH GAME. THANK GOODNESS I ALREADY GOT MYSELF A 3DS. -fangirl fangirl fangirl-)  
_Wisteria_ - Oh you, you flatter me :* It's actually nice to hear since I have a terrible inferiority complex with writing that it tends to make me stop writing completely or give up on it for awhile. Every time there's a new update, I feel like the whole document looks messy. Ugh Dx Well I hope I can meet up to your expectations, from what I'm planning I'm sure this is gonna get dragged somehow like before. I swear, chapters are gonna get more interesting when I'm done with these chapters. D;  
_Sivi -_ Well... -shouldn't say anything if you're going to read the update anyway- it might be altered version of anger in tough friendship terms. Gee, I wonder if that sentence wasn't already hard to understand and cryptic as hell. But after fourteen chapters in, and a year spent just posting them, I think it was the right time to introduce them. Although I didn't plan for Wallace to show up at all, but I guess I'm trying to aim to please xP Nevertheless, thank you for sticking around, every review counts considering how much I need a reminder to update.  
_LiliaShaymin _- I spent four hours on an outline alone (word format can go suck it, outline view my foot) and then I gotta start researching for my Lit class. Ah school life. This is why I need my summer to sleep and generally not care about anything. Anyway, ranting aside. For now it's turbulent friendship time, and probably more of it later, which means stubbornness to the max. In all honesty, I don't know how to portray him...I hope you won't be disappointed. ;_; Then again he doesn't play much of a role in his chapter, the next chapter will be a definite though.  
_Kuro_ - Ah, well, that's a shame! I remember the days I didn't have an account and checked every single day for something I wanted to be updated: it was such a pain. A mere suggestion so you could receive any alerts through your e-mail. :U I could be doing better, but I'm still thriving~ Oh Arceus no, making a long chapter is tediously time-consuming to check over (I reread it several times, made the corrected paragraphs in red and the rest that's needed to be corrected in black. No lie, I was starting to see red everywhere.) Glad to hear it! Metagross is a BAMF, but I'm sure the frustration of a pokémon with a super computer of a brain can be comical. x3 YES, ANOTHER FAN FOR THAT PAIRING. THE WORLD MUST KNOW THEY ARE THE NEW BEST THING. And you must play TWEWY! So much slashy implications I can't even-  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own Pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 14  
**

︵

I know I could've been a better man,  
But I always had to have the upper hand,  
I'm struggling to see,  
The better side of me,  
But I can't

x./Every Avenue - Tell me I'm a wreck\.x

* * *

"You hate me, I get it, but it doesn't mean you're getting out of here," he said sharply in desperation to ease the irritation grating his nerves as he rested his back on the cavern's cold walls, his hands crossed and resting under his head. The cogs in his head were turning to devise a plan to easily have Sapphire relaxed, like capturing a shroomish from the field and having the small plant-like creature shower the brunette in sleeping powder. He quickly shook his head to scrap such a plan from his thoughts. Ruby's inner musings circulated upon reaching Mauville, reserving a room in the Pokémon Center with its comfortable bed, a warm shower, a sanitary environment unlike the refuge of the blackened cave with its rocky structure, he was sure the hanging stalactites would impale him at any second if a tremor struck the inside of the cave. Hands resting back to his sides he uneasily shifted a few inches away from his original position, eyeing the ceiling with relief his current spot was cleared from the deathly sharp stones.

Sapphire muttered something inaudible to nobody in particular, with a huff she retreated to a corner where her combusken and aggron joined closely together, she offered the steel beast soothing words to reassure its anger, her hands sweetly patting her aggron's sharpened claws. The tension in the air was familiar to them both since the first unruly incident in Briney's boat, he had not faintest idea of the group's identity seeking to kidnap Sapphire in the opportune moment but such a moment reminded Ruby to keep his irritation at bay. Ruby hugged his legs close against his lithe body, red eyes intently watching Sapphire rubbing her hands near the fire engulfing the young fowl's claws, her large lake-blue eyes reflecting the warming comfort of the flickering flame. He wanted some form of communication with his childhood friend instead of the choking silence gradually working up his nerves; Sapphire seemed adamantly against uttering a single word after blatantly insulting him.

Realization sunk in several times: he had nobody to confide in, everything he wanted to say remained bottled up. He had hoped that one day he would reunite with his precious friend and tell her about Wally, tell her he ran away from home, although it was rather a relief she was completely uninformed of him being a runaway, and trust her enough she would not breathe a word to Norman. To jokingly tease her dirtied adventuring wear, or perhaps—he cursed under his breath, feeling the creeping warmth coloring his cheeks and ears pink—tell her the rollercoaster ride of emotions whenever Steven was around. Or at least accept him to the extent that Norman couldn't.

He brought his head forward so his fingers could reach the beanie and tug it downward, silently he sunk his head in his arms. Wally was gone, Ruru was gone, Sapphire was gone, Steven was gone, his father and his mother…

Although mentally exhausted watching the furious antics of two children, Metagross detected the gloom falling heavily on the trainer-coordinator. The steel arachnid-like pokémon raised its legs, claiming the spot beside Ruby to plant its massive steel body. It was its youth all over again when Steven was deliberately bullied and ostracized throughout his childhood, and although it could not be the furry pokémon like Nana and Coco curling around their trainer, Metagross allowed its presence to be used as a 'crying shoulder' if needed be. Ruby hid the small smile forming as his arm pressed against the cold steel exterior of Metagross' leg, a pleasant feeling driving away the looming anguish previously felt.

Zuzu escaped from its pokéball in its runny-nose glory, it excitedly wrapped its slime-coated arm-fins around the child's neck, evidently wanting to take part in the cuddling session. Metagross closed its eyes peacefully, Nana and Coco chortled softly and curled closer to the boy's legs, the dual water-ground pokémon was nuzzling on the crook of its trainers neck, and Ruby—although mildly appalled to be coated in Zuzu's thin bodily slime—comfortably breathed the ragged sigh that weighed down the once dispirited sensation.

Sapphire studied Ruby for a brief moment with an unreadable expression, wordlessly she picked the dirt out of her nails.

* * *

Marge avoided the detection of the former champion's multiple-eyed, rapid-spinning doll pokémon barraging through the packs of numel and mightyena flung around like rag dolls in the air, the steel bird blew powerful gust of wind by flapping its steel-plated wings, sending the pokémon flying like Claydol's assault. She hissed venomously, she jumped over the body of a fainted mightyena in her path, her squadron was unprepared for the arrival of Steven Stone—as long as his metagross was absent from the battle the grunts _might_ have a chance against his party members—and overconfidence would have the entire group fail to retrieve the meteorite, those bearing the champion title would surely thwart her plans.

She had plenty in store than to lose it all at the moment.

The raven haired Magma admin unfastened a pokéball from the belt strapped around her waist, she rested the device in her bare hand—her other hand gloved drenched in tomato's berry spice juice—her finger hovering over the white button to increase the size of the ball to its regular output. The ideal world for Magma she was promised by her superior when the requirements were fulfilled, a land ideal for her and her beloved pokémon she spent countless hours priming for the contest throughout her childhood. She was determined and she'll be damned if she allowed Steven, Wallace, or anyone else to meddle with Magma's affairs while she was still well and breathing. Mitch followed accordingly to her orders, providing a proper distraction with his torkoal filling the cave with a thickly black smog, disorienting Claydol's and Skarmory's view of the oppositions.

It was music to her ears the infernal steel-plated avian cried loudly—perhaps a spout of fire from Torkoal's mouth had managed to successfully damage the pokémon out of the air, she thought—her ears ringing from Skarmory's prolonged metal sound attack. Mitch's regal swellow swooped down on Brawly's hariyama regaining a small portion of its strength resting along the sidelines after Steven's appearance, guttural groans from the large pokémon lessened the anxiety of escaping Meteor Falls without the meteorite. The second the gum that has been stretching on Marge's tongue and began inflating like a balloon popped she tossed the pokéball in her hand.

The white silhouette revealed a ninetales peering about, examining its surroundings before directing its focus on its Magma-member master. Marge ran her fingers on fur crest on her ninetales' head, snickering faintly the adult fox-like pokémon closed its eyes, evidently enjoying the tender attention.

"See him there?" she asked, a gloved finger pointing directly at Steven frantically calling out to his pokémon obscured from view in the black smog, in turn the pokémon nodded to her. She smirked ominously; her fingers slipped away from silky furred crest as she took a precautionary step back. "Attack him with everything you got."

Steven eyes frantically flickered from angle to angle, he would have relied on Skarmory to blow the smog with its powerful gust but the agonizing cawing within the gas proved otherwise: Skarmory was too preoccupied struggling against the flurry of flames penetrating through the smog, it wings injured by the flames burning through its steel exterior. He fished out Aggron's pokéball from his pocket: a hyper beam from the steel beast's power was enough to clear—

He retracted his hand sharply, hissing at the painful scorch inflicted on his wrist, his fingers loosened instantly and the pokéball slipped from his grasp, rolling away from the initial bouncing impact. He gazed at the ninetales resting its four paws on an edged boulder, readying the flame's energy stored in the fireball forming in its mouth. First was the painful frostbite done by Aqua—which has yet to recover completely, not even in the slightest—and now he suffered a burn infliction, and from the distance separating himself and the fire pokémon the severity of the burn was nothing that required medical attention, regardless he could feel the warmth radiating on his wrist. In a feeble attempt to cool the injury he drew his wrist close to his mouth, hastily blowing puffs of air on the pinkish inflamed skin.

Ninetales opened it mouth wider, the ringlets of fire spiraling in Steven's direction, surrounding the former champion shuffling to retrieve the pokéball that dropped to the floor. Trapped in Ninetales' flame wheel nearly earned him another burn, the moment he kneeled to reclaim the pokéball the fire formed an inch away from the capturing device. The flame wheel was excruciatingly narrow to bind him firmly in place, if he released a party member from their pokéball they would each get severely burned trying to escape – he had enough bodily damage for one week, he moodily thought.

With a flicker of determination to escape the fox's spiraling flame wheel he discreetly slipped Armaldo's pokéball behind his back, his finger hovering over the button to release the metal-plated fossil pokémon. Although he would risk burning himself and his pokémon, Armaldo pincer-like claws were perfectly capable of digging a hole beneath—

"Whatever you're doing, mister ex-champion…" Marge said in a sing-song manner. "If you choose to continue, my ninetales will definitely have your entire body engulfed in _flames._"

Steven watched her mutely, he hid the initial surprise encountering the teenager—was she even a teenager with such an exposing uniform?—he saved in Slateport with a mask of neutrality. He yielded to the promising threat by stuffing both hands in his pocket, his tight fist loosening to allow Armaldo's pokéball to clatter against Craydily's pokéball.

"Where is that darling metagross of yours?"

She was granted no response yet it hardly deterred her playfully sinister laced tone. She steadily observed him, his stern attitude failing to flatter.

That was perfectly fine too.

"With daddy dearest? The Pokémon center?" Still no response from the former champion. Marge giggled, beaming him a wicked smirk.

"Or with that little boy," she thoughtfully paused to clarify, "with eyes the color of fire?"

He twitched.

"Bin-go," she cooed.

* * *

Ruby was blissfully unaware whether ten minutes passed or ten hours, the lasting sleep—or nap if it wasn't a considerable amount of time, he was too tired to walk across the cavern to reach for his sling backpack containing his pokénav for the time—and he covered his mouth to yawn sluggishly, his eyes fluttering open to dreamily gaze at the inviting flame illuminating the starkly black cave. Lazily he focused his attention on the spot he last seen Sapphire settle near before his consciousness drifted away, he fully expected a scene where Sapphire would be muttering to herself, complaining about being forcibly trapped within the cave with him or at least an intensified glare if she decided to give him the cold shoulder.

He was welcomed by an aggron's struggling groans and Sapphire's whispered cheers.

His head whipped in the direction of the boulder blocking the entrance, he shot up—stirring Nana and Coco resting on their trainer's legs, now readily awake and alert—startling Metagross from its sleep, drowsy red eyes peered at the child grinding his teeth together in raging frustration. Its focus heightened spotting the brunette and her aggron from the corner of its eyes—_A boulder of such size should never pose a problem for an aggron_, Metagross thought quickly—and without an order Metagross' metallic 'x' glowed a purplish hue, the pair by the entrance squawked loudly hovering in the air by the psychic outlining their bodies and controlling their muscles. Ruby furrowed his brows, his hands resting on his hips, his scarlet eyes settling on the pair shouting, or roaring in Aggron's case, at the top of their lungs, their shrill voices demanding to brought down to the surface.

Ruby craned his neck to search for any form of weariness from his companion, curiously he asked, "You're not straining your energy making them unable to move in the air, right?"

Metagross stared at the child, as if to say, 'Not at all.'

"Good, they're going to stay up there," he proclaimed with a wash of relief.

"What? Yer crazy!" Sapphire shrieked.

Ruby shrugged, regarding the girl with a passive expression. "I beg to differ," he said plainly.

Her combusken was nowhere in sight, he safely assumed she returned the young fowl back inside its pokéball, otherwise Ruby would have freely allowed Zuzu to run amuck and blast the fire-type with mud and _plenty _of water. His three pokémon settled comfortably amongst themselves to fall into a deep slumber, Metagross' adorning feature glowed brilliantly yet the steel pokémon harbored an explicable look of boredom having to bare the insufferable minutes passing by the two quarreling children unable to settle their differences for their own piteous reasons.

"Why can't you just say put, Saph? Sleep the day away or something!"

Sapphire shot him a hostile glower.

"I told you already! You'll get out as soon as it's decently nice outside, okay?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, reopened them, and pretended not to hear a single word coming from his mouth. Ruby exhaled deeply, in an attempt to lessen his frustrations he rubbed the bridge of his nose, crestfallen he rested his sight on his sneakers. He wondered if such a circumstance would have been different if could have dragged Sapphire somewhere else in the field when they were younger, then perhaps they would have never encountered the dragon pokémon swooping down to the grassy plains, its long talons piercing through Sapphire's ruffled dress to drag her into the sky in its precise grip. Would it have been different if he never moved from Johto? Would he have been friends with Sapphire rather than acting like long-hated enemies?

In a demented way of thinking he wondered if the best scenario would have been him that was captured by the raging salamence searching for prey, at the very least the purity of the girl's essence would have been preserved if not traumatized if he was unable to escape the salamence's clutches. After all, his life has been nothing but a stormy and ill-fated emotional torment being found by his father, his disgusted expression a vividly fresh image in his head, and facing Sapphire's ongoing resentment. The only highlight was recently winning the contest and meeting Steven Stone, however, meeting the former champion had its extent when Ruby faced a lingering disappointment weighing his shoulders when Steven left behind a vague note and Metagross. Ruby exhibited a wreckage of attachments whenever Steven was nearby, whether be the time in Slateport they held hands or the bathing incident the blunette nearly seen his scars.

Ruby inwardly laughed coldly: how could he ever disregard the injuries he sustained from the ice binding his ankles and hands? Worried, concerned – their time traveling together proved to be a fruitless effort to rely on one another. He was foolish to think Steven would harbor any form of emotional connection enough to explain the ice that caused his skin to discolor in white patches, to explain the bite wound seeping blood on his arm, or to write on the short note an explanation for his sudden absence than an empty apology on paper.

_Maybe I really should have been the one to be taken away by that salamence instead…_

Norman could be a calmer man without his headache of a runaway son.

His mother, who adored her son, could possibly be at peace without having to grieve about his disappearance…if she is grieving.

Sapphire would be the girl she once was: her scowl would be replaced with her girlish, tender smile, no longer tolerating the eyesore of a 'friend' she has.

How could he forget Wally? Maybe he would have met him regardless but without Ruby, Wally would have never had to personally witness Norman's rage.

And Steven…

Steven would no longer have to accompany the _burden_ that he has to follow on a daily basis; he would no longer have to bear the secret of avoiding Norman as well…

"Metagross, you can set them down. Just…just move the boulder."

* * *

"And I haven't even told you the best part! Guess what, Stone?" Marge chided eagerly, absently she twirled a lock of her wavy black hair. "We have someone tracking him as we speak! Our camerupt come in large numbers if you haven't realized. I would _love _to see how long it would take until your strongest asset finally falls."

Perhaps it was the unsettling realization paralyzing him from movement, something in the back of his daring to challenge her threat, to counter her so she could stammer and attempt to regain her haughty semblance of the circumstances. An absurd compulsion nearly drove him to sprint though the circling fire rings, its radiating temperature brought beads of sweat forming beneath his blue fringes. For all the trouble she was causing him it only seemed reasonable to have her quavering and squirming under the brute force of his aggron to expose her riddling lies she fabricated to unnerve him. Steven said nothing in response to her deplorable enthusiasm for the unjust cause, it sickened him both Magma and Aqua were fueled with such unsightly ambitions from the mere tone lacing their voices.

He would never allow Marge to gain the satisfaction of seeing him other than composed, to make a mask of complete neutrality despite his mental anxiety overwhelming him with the worst-case scenarios that could befall on Ruby. Regarding her with a passive look Steven loosened the button to his collar, he stuffed his cravat messily in his pocket to allow even the smallest airflow to pass through. Marge quirked her head, observing for the slightest change in the former champion's expression, and she hummed pleasingly entertained. The Magma admin popped the bubble forming after her previous remark to allow her bluff to seep in: she wasn't fooled, the feigning indifference only lasted so long and she intended to gage a reaction before she left.

"How does it feel, Stone? Just those two you have out won't last that much longer. Don't you feel trapped?" she sneered darkly. She wanted to see him squirm, to force another bodily response when she merrily had him twitch last time. "Don't you feel _useless_?"

He merely stared, his eyes falling moodily half-lidded.

"What can you do right? Save these gym leaders? Don't make me laugh! You're failing already," she laughed mockingly, she outspread her arms to glorify the presence of Team Magma. The battlefield became a storm of the cave's dust; there was enough visibility to distinguish long arrays of fire shooting in multiple directions, occasionally the grunts of Skarmory and Claydol's echoed through the cavern.

Marge strode around whimsically, then she halted in her movements abruptly, her back to Steven. "What's a hero, Stone? What makes a hero? Their bravery? Their sense of justice?" she shook her head, her arms fell back to her sides. She bounced on the balls of her heels, turning sharply and faced the blunette once more. "Those are qualities of fiction. Face it, you're not planted an ideal setting where the tables will turn. You can't save anyone, Stone. You _can't_ save anyone even if you _tried_."

Marge folded her hands behind her back, slowly stalking towards the ringlets of fire trapping Steven. "You're commended for trying, but that's all it is: trying. Always failing, always _useless._ And you can continue trying; the expansion of the land is within our grasp."

He could no longer digest her words without having his hands crinkle in rage; he was tempted to have her smug mouth sealed shut, to have her cowering away from the combined power of all his party's hyper beam attack. He was startled such vivid and violent streaming thoughts began escalating from her offending remarks, he failed to acknowledge her statement for truth. He wasn't aiming to be a hero, even Archie had implied he was 'playing hero.'

Marge was satisfied, the former champion bared a deathly glint in his eyes that followed her into the storm of dust. The fox-like pokémon followed loyally behind the ebony-haired Magma admin, within a few moments she had slipped past her partner and motioned him to escape before they were welcomed by Hoenn's current champion as well. The meteorite was secured in Mitch's bulky arms, the pokémon recalled into their capsules, the two wordlessly nodded and treaded outside quickly to make their escape to progress their plans for the expansion of their team's ideals. Before making their full departure to their next rendezvous Marge snickered after sparing the entrance of Meteor Falls one final amused glance, the grunts hastily following suit.

Mitch cautiously asked his amused companion what she had done to deter herself from a speedy getaway, her rare-occurring good moods enlightened her partner of the lies she fed to the former champion, her dreamy gaze ogling the sky in fascination: to think Aqua's and Magma's formidable foe was wrapped around her little finger simply by her manipulative remarks. She knew she had Steven withering in a pool of doubt, her attention was gravitated scaring the blunette throughout their one-sided conversation. Marge laughed quietly to herself, silly her; she had almost had the initial plan to capture the meteorite slip away from her agenda. Mitch briefly asked whether there was some truth in her winded words she had told Steven.

Marge allowed herself to laugh heartily, it was very unbecoming it left Mitch reserved and shuddering. She shook her head, "We don't have anyone following that kid. It was just a ruse to have his sense of heroism fall to shambles: he's realizing he's failing, that should be enough for him to quit meddling like the pest he is."

Mitch raised a brow. "You could have gotten rid of him, this was the opportunity!"

She blew a bubble, gracefully jumping off a boulder. "I could have," she said plainly, her voice indicating no such encouragement of their idle conversation to progress.

Mitch watched her quietly, shrugging he let the silence overshadow the rest of their descent to their temporary base.

Inside Meteor Falls time had stilled, rather it felt like it stilled: the rings of fire dispersed when the Marge and Ninetales vacated the scene, leaving him feeling a pitiful void wrenching his gut feeling so _vulnerable. _How could he suppress the urge to beat the limestone ground with his fist, however he shook his head adamantly against the rash decision, his expression faltering as he peered ahead of the dust obscuring his vision. His skarmory cried weakly, its beak poking at the boulder trapping one of its wings under the massive weight, effectively immobilizing the steel-plated pokémon.

Aggron was released from its ball he secured once again, the pokémon was regarding its trainer with a look of incredulity over his silence, slowly Aggron followed the blunette's line of vision and scrambled hurriedly to lift the boulder.

It was a cheating lost: he had three pokémon in his pocket unreleased from their capsules to thwart Magma's plans. Momentarily apologizing to the unconscious Claydol, blue irises scanned the destroyed inners of Meteor Falls.

Steven recalled the gym leader's pokémon in their pokéballs, weakly hoisting both men to their feet, his arms wrapped around their waist. Steven's movements was slowly paced as both men sustained visible bruises attempting to take control of their troubling circumstances with their foes, it strained his own body struggling with the weight of the two gym leaders in his hold. Aggron trekked behind cautiously behind its trainer, strongly aware of Steven's foul mood lingering in the tense atmosphere, its beady ebony eyes focused on the steel-bird resting in its arms.

"Steven!"

Both Steven and Aggron raised their head; they blinked once searching for the voice of the concerned caller.

The steel beast bared its teeth, its angry huffs audibly loud enough to be heard. Steven closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, desperately hoping his eyes were simply playing mind tricks from his fatigue.

Wallace, the current champion of Hoenn, had to be the only individual in the world with the worst possible timing.

* * *

Why are girls so complicated?

A lingering exasperation coursed through the child's drained body, the pulsating headache worsened having to comply with Sapphire's demands to leave him, the resentful glint in her usually wondrous playful blue orbs gazed at him in a scornful manner. He stepped aside sluggishly from the boulder, his hands folded behind his back with his fingers curling around each other restlessly, then like rapid fire her demeanor softened partially. She continuously acted like the short-tempered, ungrateful girl she is. However, despite it all, she quietly retreated to her solemn corner: the towering aggron was recalled into its pokéball, her new open companion was the fiery-natured young fowl honing its sharp talons.

The torrential pitter-patter of rain drops dissipated after the next several hours, the grassy field moistened with cold drops of the leftover rain not consumed by the fertile soil, the darkness loomed heavily over the two children in their small refuge. The hours seeped through their dull monotone shared silence, the lingering tension discouraged the use of insults or one-sided conversation to lessen their ongoing boredom. Eventually Sapphire recalled her drowsy fire-pokémon inside its pokéball; she shuffled quietly in the darkened cave, reluctantly settling on the chillingly cold floor to earn some sleep. The brunette pushed the fanny pack underneath her head –it was the only form of comfort—she stiffened as her hip bones pressed on the tiny jagged rocks pressing into the material of her clothing. Nana and Coco parted from Ruby's side after loyally obeying the whispered order to curl close beside the girl's petite frame, she slept soundly through the passing minutes having in possession two warm providers.

Metagross' metallic feature shone dimly in the darkness, providing a source of light for Ruby to scuttle quietly beside Sapphire, and tenderly he ran his fingers through her silky brown tresses. The light illuminating the cave died within a few seconds reaching the snoozing brunette, he then retracted his hand: Sapphire could awake alarmed something, namely someone, was touching her in sleep which would ensue to her negative backlash. Yielding to the demand for sleep weighing his eyelids he rested his head on Coco's coiled body, the darkness shrouding his vision made it difficult to visualize the only few moments Sapphire's face would be graced with a heavenly serene expression. No scowl, no frown, nothing that could evoke her expression contorting into a wicked hostility she bore over the trainer-coordinator. Ruby's hands began to roam the jagged ground—

—ah, her hand. The thin gloves lacked the essential warming material to bring heat to her fingers. It was a trifling feeling to close his grip on her hand securely; he knew in the morning such a moment would have to come to an end. He closed his eyes, content he could spend a feeling of togetherness with his precious friend.

He inwardly prepared himself for the rising sun of tomorrow, by the next day he would have to ensure he wore a confident mask to conceal the ache of having Sapphire treat him like he was the eyesore of the world.  
Ruby steadily acknowledged that, perhaps, he really is unwanted.

* * *

The unsettling feeling resided inside and filled his downcast expression riddled with a mingled amount of grief and exasperation, he wanted to crawl in an isolated area far from Fallarbor to wallow in his horrid shame, to remain in such a non-existent fantasy until he could regain the dignity to show his face around the gym leaders under Nurse Joy's care for their impaired eyesight after being strongly afflicted with a tomato berry's painful spiced juices. Nurse Joy reassured Steven his pokémon were steadily recovering from the damage inflicted from the battle with Magma, unfortunately the process of Skarmory's injured steel-plated wing needed a week's time to regenerate, a large splint would become the wing's accessory to lessen to the risk of further damaging or breaking the inner bones around the carpal joints. He was reluctant to visit his pokémon's slumbering forms, inwardly he pleaded for Claydol's to open at least one of its multiple eyes to signal it was moderately in good health after the battle.

Neither Skarmory nor Claydol regained consciousness; their overexerted fatigue had both pokémon unable to detect the forlorn expression weighing down on the former champion's shoulders. How could he have allowed the situation to go beyond his grasp? He should have had the advantage over several Magma members—not type-wise but rather strength-wise—the camerupt and numel could have quickly been defeated with the strong shockwave of Aggron's earthquake attack, the excess amount of strength could have warningly sent the Magma members fleeing in fear. No, he was trapped in the fiery vortex of a mere ninetales, subjecting himself to hear the Magma admin's one-winded speech that has yet to wane from troubling him.

He stormed away from the room his two pokémon occupied overnight, his eyebrows knitting together recapping her condescending words – it left a bitter taste in his mouth he could only listen to her. A hero? Why was he insistently labeled a 'hero'? Steven was not fond of their implications; he bit inside of his cheek and ignored the metallic taste of blood trailing his tongue.

A hero.

He was not trying to fulfill the role, he was doing what felt…well, righteous. Wallace could have been conducting his own investigation on the sidelines while he dealt with the Team's aggressive approaches; it was a fine distraction before he ultimately had to confront Wallace over the circumstances. Having the meteorite in Magma's possession would grant him without a choice, a meeting sounded prompt for tomorrow. Knowing Wallace, Steven dreaded having to be confined in a last-minute meeting inside the Pokémon Center's vacant room with an energetic surfer, his former longtime lover, and the intimidating gym leader of Petalburg that continuously wears a scowl around the three men.

He sighed moodily, occupying himself to sit on the vacant tables; he then leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table, his fingers pressing on his closed eyelids. He wondered if he was deserving of such terrible luck in a span of a few days, having time stilled would relieve the heavy weight burdening his conflicting thoughts, the plummeting feeling of his heart unable to control the intense fear having the wrong words slip out of his mouth near Norman. Arceus almighty have pity on his existence if Brawly mentioned or hinted for Steven to return to Dewford for another surfing lesson or the sheer tension of the strained relationship between himself and Wallace.

"Dude, you gotta lighten up! Seriously man, you look like you just came back from a funeral," Brawly noisily interjected Steven's thought process, startling the former champion from his deathly brooding.

Lowering his arms Steven's blue eyes flickered worriedly on the bandage wrapped over the side of the man's head, he almost felt envious Brawly could still be smiling despite the ordeal in Meteor Falls. It did relieve him Brawly had been released from Nurse Joy's care to freely loiter the lobby.

Steven regarded him a weak grin, at least Brawly was not entirely affected as he was. With a slow shake of the head Steven pushed the chair beside him outwards, offering the empty seat beside him. "Please disregard my behavior; it really is of no importance. How are you fairing?"

Brawly briskly sat down, he groaned loudly to empathize his emotions on the situation. "Tamato berry juice is some strong stuff, my eye is kinda swelled up, looks gross too but you don't need to know that!" he laughed heartily, he grinned brightly when Steven chuckled at the comment. "By tomorrow it's gonna be fine for sure, same with Norman except he's a little crankier about it than I am."

Cranky. He was in a foul mood.

That made talking to him _so_ much easier.

"We got pretty beat up, though it's nothing major to fret about. I know that it's not right to say this but I'm glad my post at Meteor Falls is over! It sucks having a partner like Norman around, he makes you feel like you're such a waste of space. Sure he's worried over his son but there's no need to be snappy at everyone trying to strike a conversation. Hostility is seriously not appreciated in my book."

Steven nodded absently, how he could have not agreed more with such a statement…although he was at fault for hiding Ruby from Norman for so long…

He had no intention of telling that to Brawly.

"Enough about me," the fighting-using gym leader paused thoughtfully, weighing his words carefully. "Are you, uh, _okay_?"

Steven blinked, he quirked his head curiously at the gym leader's concern. "Pardon me?"

Brawly began to fidget awkwardly. "I'm not relating this anything to Magma, I mean…Ugh. I'm sorry! I called Wallace right after I called you for your help…I knew you might have been on your way but we needed someone else to be absolutely sure! Two is better than one as they say! Ahah…err, sorry again. I know you guys aren't in the greatest terms with each other after—after whatever happened."

At least it explains Wallace's appearance, either the champion was genuinely concerned or he received an urgent phone call. Typical.

"No, no, you did the right thing. My relationship with him should never be the factor over your safety and the meteorite," he murmured slowly, his sense of focus drifting away. Brawly had spurred a moment he wanted to avoid; it had to arrive eventually regardless of the trifling circumstances.

Brawly brightened, he gave an abrupt friendly pat on Steven's back, the startled blunette echoed a faint 'oof.'

"Dude, I got your back! Wallace won't bug you as much if I'm around, I'll even distract Norman as much as I can for the next several days—since we're all basically stuck here until your pokémon gets better and Wallace gives us the official release—so he won't be so hateful against…uhh, you for being…_you know._"

"Homosexual?" Steven quipped. It was such a relief he could discuss a portion of his own personal issues with someone besides his father, he knew how several could become uneasy around him after having such a relationship with Wallace a few month ago. Brawly, being the kind of man he is, respected the former champion to never belittle him over such minor matters. "Thank you, I sincerely appreciate it."

It was unavoidable he needed to talk with Norman, if anything the faster he seized the opportunity the better: he would never have to engage another conversation for the next several days. He wished Brawly a good night's rest before pushing back in his seat, dusting off the slightest specks of dust on his pants, his eyes straying from his feet to the front entrance.

"Yo, Steven," Brawly interrupted, a devious snicker etched on his playful expression. Steven casted his attention on the gym leader, Brawly then opened his arms wide and said, "Do I fit your dating criteria?"

Or, in other words, Brawly was asking him whether he was attractive.

Releasing a light chuckle, Steven waved him off. "It would be in Roxanne's best interest if I refrain from answering that."

"That's a total yes then?" He paused, realization seeping in. "Wait, what? She…? Sweet!" he bantered excitedly, his fist pumping into the air but instantly retracted from the searing pain of his strained muscles.

After parting with the gym leader rejoicing in his seat boyishly, Steven scanned the surrounding area for the Petalburg gym leader. The town was darkening, the volcanic smoke from the nearby distance filled the sky with a bleak black blanket far before the rest of the towns or cities in the Hoenn region. He shuffled uneasily towards the small pond reflecting the gloomy reflection of the normal-using gym leader, despite the night sky he could visibly see the fine line on Norman's mouth, and he began debating whether to interrupt Norman or retreat into the Pokémon Center's safe vicinity.

The latter option sounded much more appealing.

The former champion halted his movements a safe distance from the gym leader – was Norman deeply engrossed in his thoughts or was he ignoring his presence? Steven cleared the lump in his throat, pouring all his efforts to disregard the bandage concealing the eye most likely swollen from the earlier incident.

"You should return to the Pokémon Center to rest," Steven suggested meekly.

Norman's body stiffened, unaware the former champion standing patiently across from him. He had a hateful glint in his eye; his voice carried a deep animosity towards Steven, although due to nature of his rescue he forced himself to remain apathetic. "I'll return soon."

Then filled a long, stressful pause, and neither man seized the effort to pursue the conversation further. Steven shifted the weight from one foot to the other, blue irises gazing dazedly into the rippling splashes of the barboach swimming in their nesting place. Steven's thoughts were running in a tangent to cool the heated burn on his wrist, to have his cravat clean from the absorbed sweat—

"Steven."

His heart hammered in his chest; sharply he returned his focus on the gym leader. "Y-Yes?"

Norman seemed uncomfortable, unwilling to give the former champion his direct eye contact. "You have been around Hoenn recently to track Team Magma and Aqua, have you—have you ever sighted my son?"

If Steven was ever trapped in the scenario of never meeting the scarlet-eyed coordinator but tracked him throughout his pursuit for Magma and Aqua, he would still withhold the truth: having spotted him in Hoenn without informing Norman would be asking for a torturous death sentence.

"I…I haven't."

Norman released a sigh, his shoulders slumping. "I see."

The sharp-tempered gym leader of Petalburg was graced with Steven's pity: Norman's typically strong voice faltered immediately from its usual opposing tone, the stress of balancing both his career obligations and reuniting with his son visibly paled the man's face. Dark circles were noticeable around the man's visible eye, his skin in unhealthy tone of white – it seemed apparent Norman had been without a night's worth of decent rest or a balanced meal.

As much as he wanted to hold his tongue Steven was pressured by guilt to make the effort to reassure Norman despite the man's lecherous aggression.

"I have no intention prodding through your business, Norman, and I could never imagine how it must feel to lose someone…perhaps your son needs time to—to reconsider how running away from his family will not solve his problems," _But you are doing no justice helping him hide either, _he thought swiftly, "I'm certain there is…_someone_ by his side, someone that is protecting him—"

"Do _not_ feed me such nonsense," Norman snarled venomously in indignation. "Nobody can protect him, they would only fail trying! Who else but his family could keep him safe?" The Petalburg gym leader sighed, his dark scowl attempting to conceal the vacant feeling in his ebony eye: the desperate look genuinely hoping his runaway son was unharmed and would return.

The Magma admin he encountered in Meteor Falls filled his head with dread, he was afraid there was some truth in her words that Ruby was being followed while he was occupied with the other gym leaders in Fallarbor. He was overwhelmed with a rush of guilt withholding information from Norman, he could hardly understand how it felt to be worried about someone and avoid thinking of the worst possible day scenario, day in and day out. The blunette was targeted by both teams, he could safely assume they both equally wanted him _dead_, and he traveled with Ruby from city to city, exposing themselves to the grunts lurking around the fields.

Because of him, Ruby got involved in Magma's affairs…

Norman was right: he had failed trying.

Nobody but his family could protect Ruby better.

* * *

**A/N**: _Reviews would be my birthday present considering I couldn't spend it with my momma;;_ In other (more important) news, POKEMON REBURST IS FINALLY SCANNED. I READ IT. I LOVED IT. -explodes from the fangirl mush-

And on an unrelated note, I was playing my Sapphire game and accidentally entered the entrance to the Elite Four (I wasn't paying attention, I had my eyes on my laptop and I thought I was walking to Nurse Joy instead.) My pokémon were all severely underleveled (45+ through 47, and a temp lvl 29 linoone so it can pick up rare candies) but I must say I'm quite proud of myself I lasted up to Glacia. I beat all her pokémon except for Walrein, it sheer cold'd my party members. That overgrown walrus is such an arse.

-Just a little note, I have never in my life considered shipping Steven and Brawly, nor do I plan to. I just needed a small tidbit of humor. The pairing now, in my head, actually sounds humorous. c: Err, Brawly isn't the only gym leader Steven gets along with, I just don't want to introduce them all at once.-


	16. Moving forward

**A/N**: JESUS IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME. But I'm not dead with this fic. I will have this done. :T I will make sure this story gets completed as long as I'm still breathing. But the updates will be slow ._.;; However I appreciate anybody who drops a line and has faved/alerted! Things will be picking up...soon...I think. I don't even know most of the time.  
**Extra notes**: NOW WHERE DID I LEAVE OFF SO I CAN MAKE A NOT-SO-AWKWARD TRANSITION. Why must my updates lag my ideas ughh.  
**Something that will be carried on throughout this fic**: there will be certain gym leader battles I will not include. Because in all fairness they are too easy. Example: Roxanne was all rock type - mudkip. Easy. Brawly - it could be either or. This will continue in the end note to avoid spoilers?  
**Warning**: wat is characterization. wat is *highly possible* OOC. wat is. But in all seriousness I formally introduce a certain someone. From what I remember is that he's pretty chillaxed in the anime, in the manga he's way more...flamboyant, I suppose. I'll get around doing a balance a both.  
**Special thanks**: to _Mystia Katsuragi_ for not only willing to beta one, but two chapters of two entirely different stories. Ugh. This would have taken a lot longer to post since I have so little energy to check things over once I have finally typed everything D; dfghjkl thannksss;; let me just love you omg.  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own Pokémon, the characters, or music/lyrics. 'Kays?

* * *

**Chapter 15  
**

︵

And there's no love  
Ever to be lost between us  
I guess this is because  
The damage that you've done is so grievous  
So I hang my head  
To dwell on what might have been  
But what you left instead  
Is pieces of a broken dream

x./Jamiroquai - King for a day\.x

* * *

The weather miraculously, despite initial assumptions, became much brighter, less cloudier, and less appalling to travel through the grassy terrain and mud puddles. Maybe he was getting a break, maybe the ideal bright morning would turn dark and gray within a few hours, but Ruby disregarded the satisfaction to stare dreamily at the rising sun. His pokémon remained asleep; all of the creatures bundled in a ball of awkward sleeping positions, light snoring, and the visible trace of Zuzu's mucus dribbling dangerously close to Nana's already dampened fur. Metagross, loyally following the young trainer-coordinator, had moved aside the boulder, allowing the streak of sunlight to enter the darkened cave.

His Pokémon were the first to scurry out of the cave. Sluggishly, they sniffed around in search of berries in the small remote location from their original route, while Zuzu dove excitedly into the water, cheerfully splashing about. Ruby made a face, mildly disgusted his clothes were being drenched, but he knew his pokémon deserved their leisure time, considering everything that has happened: he barely allowed his pokémon to have time for themselves, unless they were self-preparing for contests.

Ruby made himself comfortable by resting on Metagross for the next hour, his arms propped behind him to support his body as he gingerly leaned back slightly, perking a faint grin when his pokémon's antics lead to their normal silliness: be it Zuzu harassing the magikarps or Nana and Coco's teasing game of tag. The carefree feeling was short-lived however, Sapphire had exited the cave, sparing the surrounding a quick scan. Her fanny pack was strapped around her waist, and using a jagged rock beneath her foot, she scraped off the thin, dry caking of mud left on her shoes – although her appearance was messy, she looked readily prepared to disembark as quickly as possible.

Ruby would admit he was moderately surprised as he offered Sapphire the lift back to their intended route, she gave no answer but a nod, her stony gaze resting on Metagross – he was not sure how he could describe the glint in her eyes: it was malicious, almost challenging if he could ever think of her as such in a negative regard. Seeing as how she remained silent, Ruby exhaled through his nose, a saddened grimace almost revealing itself, and finally recalled his pokémon into their appropriate pokéballs.

Her face remained entirely void of emotions in the short trip when Metagross hovered over the water and onto route 110. If anything, it made him shuffle uneasily in the limited space as he spared her sidelong glances, unconsciously biting on his bottom lip nervously. Upon arriving, she was the first to hop off Metagross, and after absently dusting away the specks of dust on her hands, she hurriedly walked ahead, one of her hands clenched tightly in a fist while the other trailed toward one of the pokéballs on the belt strap of her pack.

"Hey, Saph…?" Ruby called out to her, carefully keeping his distance in case she began to lash out but keeping close at the same time to keep an eye on her as he followed. He quirked his head to the side, trying to see if he could notice, at least from this angle, a change in her expression.

Sapphire removed the pokéball from the strap and tossed it once in the air before reclaiming the capsule in her palm, her finger pressing the pokéball's button to enlarge and activate it. Abruptly she turned on her heel to face an alarmed Ruby, blinking twice confusedly as he watched her with a steady gaze, and called her Aggron out of its ball.

"Battle me," she hissed, her pretty eyes narrowing. "Battle me now!"

It may have been unbecoming of him, but Ruby couldn't help but gawk at the brunette. Was she honestly expecting him to challenge her to a battle? The girl that could barely keep herself from crying years back when a salamence had scared her near to death? Shaking his head in disbelief, he offered her a widening, arrogant grin and shrugged his shoulder in a condescending manner.

"You must be joking, Saph." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Ruby snorted in a quick, almost quiet laugh. "Haven't you realized by now I don't do battles? Nana and Coco are meant for contests. Tell me what part of them belongs in _battles?_"

"Whaddya call Marshtomp 'n Metagross then?"

"Exceptions," he retorted plainly. _And one doesn't belong to me anyway._ "I think this discussion is done. No, it _is _done. I'm not battling you, Saph, so quit while it's still nice out-"

"Use hyper beam, Rono!"

The blast was nearly unavoidable for both Metagross and Ruby, who was more than stunned to see that she had no qualms about directly hurting him in the process of battling. His heart was thumping hard in his chest, yet he maintained the same position, grounded in the dew-wet grass firmly. He had brought his arms to cover his face from the debris of Metagross' flawless reaction time to unleash a hyper beam of its own. Despite Metagross's appearance to be rather fearsome on a regular basis—if not always appearing to be extremely irritated—Ruby could just tell the steel arachnid-like pokémon was angered beyond belief now.

"Are you out of your mind?! What part of '_no_' doesn't process through that skull of yours?" he bellowed. He coughed a few times, fanning away the cloud of smoke with his hand. "Can't we just head to the next town peacefully without you trying to kill me?!"

Rono readied another hyper beam in its mouth.

"Sapphire," he said patiently, hoping saying her full name would gauge her to stand down. "Stop your aggron right now. I'm not going to battle you!"

The steel beast opened its mouth wider.

"Seriously, Sapphire! Call down your aggron!"

Metagross stepped forward, preparing its hyper beam.

"Metagross," he growled warningly, his eyes narrowing into slits. Metagross paid him no regard, but he should have expected much from a pokémon that was none his own – besides, Metagross was already fueled by its strong resentment towards Sapphire's aggron and the uncalled hyper beam attack it had fired at the pair a few seconds ago.

Ruby threw his head back, his eyes softening to gaze at the white clouds passing by, announcing, "Fine, you want a battle?" Exhaling through his nose to make an attempt to relieve his pulsing headache, he arched his neck back in its normal position, settling his focus on Steven's pokémon. "Be my guest," he encouraged, restraining the urge to groan in disbelief.

* * *

Steven knew very well when occupying an empty meeting room within the Pokémon Center that he was to sit still, fold his hands, and organize his words in his mind in case he needed to present some tidbit of the sort. He was anxious, jittery almost, but relieved all at the same time. Wallace was taking his precious time to enter through the sole door in the cramped room. Although Norman was inwardly scolding both Brawly and Steven, the two were left to their own devices to play paper football.

Normally Steven would be fully against playing a game meant for grade-schoolers, eventually he would even attempt to convince Brawly to entertain himself without having an extra participant. But where would his gaze be directed? The barren walls provided no colorful advertisement, so he might look elsewhere and accidentally meet Norman's eyes – it would be terribly awkward then, and if anything he'd rather just partake in some little fun to ease the tension.

Brawly cringed occasionally when he flicked the paper, he would be the one cheering animatedly as he made it through the goalpost Steven created with his fingers, his muscles still sore from yesterday's failure with Magma. Their game lasted for eight straight minutes: Brawly with five goals, Steven with two—except Brawly kept laughing and moving every time Steven flicked the paper, otherwise he would have certainly won—and the Dewford gym leader was more than pleased to have won a simple game after recollecting the aftermath of their battle some time ago.

Only once did Steven aim poorly, nearly hitting Norman, who was resting his eyes and leaning back on his chair, but thankfully he was able to sigh in relief as it bounced off the armrest. Before Brawly could begin another round of paper football, the door loudly creaked open, and a well and composed Wallace entered the meeting room with a thin manila folder held close to his chest. He welcomed the three with a reserved smile, and after bumping the door closed with the heel of his shoe, Wallace briskly walked over to the empty chair.

His smile faltered as he lowered his gaze, feeling as if he stepped on something. Little folded pieces of paper were scattered messily beneath him, he blinked once before returning his focus on the three men. Norman crossed his arms, subtly informing Wallace he was not at fault.

"Dare I ask who caused this mess?"

Steven shifted guiltily in his chair, in the back of his mind he wished Metagross was with him for moral support: he already left a bad impression after avoiding the Hoenn champion for—for…he lost track himself. And their separation should have ensured a wedge between their actual connection, yet here he was sitting in a bland room, his supportive companion was no longer with him at the moment, and he found himself entranced with Wallace's voice: always such an inviting, fluid, kind tone.

"Uh, yeah. That was all me, I was bored as whoa right here."

And then there was Brawly: the master of refinement.

"And before you start, yeah, I'll pick them up later. Now can we get this thing going already? I've got a fine little town with waves that are calling my name!"

Steven's face whitened, he gave Brawly an uneasy glance, and slowly dragged his chair a fair distance away from the gym leader before he could suggest another surfing event.

Wallace claimed his seat, plopping the folder on the desk. "This may disappoint you, Brawly, but everyone in this room will remain in Fallarbor for another day. You will have plenty of time to surf to your heart's content the day after tomorrow, I assure you." Wallace paused, stealing a glance at the former champion's paled complexion. "You still have that fear over water?"

"Need I remind you whose fault that is?" Steven huffed, slightly angry with himself he could feel the traces of warmth radiating on his cheeks. "It was _your_ Wailord and Gyarados that created a tidal wave that engulfed the boat we were _peacefully _sailing in. What you assumed would be in good humor has created a terrible trauma for me!"

Brawly rudely gaped throughout their conversation, interjecting loudly, "Whoa! Hold up and rewind there." The two men faced him with a mild look on their faces. "Wallace is capable of having a sense of humor? _Mind blown._"

"He does, although it leaves a lot to be desired," Steven murmured sourly, his eyebrows knitting together in exasperation.

Wallace feigned a look of hurt. "I will have you both know-"

Norman, whose patience slowly deteriorated with every passing second, faked a loud cough, his eyebrow visibly twitching.

"Ah, yes," Wallace said quickly, nervously flipping the folder open. "No more distractions. We have all gathered here for a purpose, after all."

"_No_, no meetings," whined the Dewford gym leader unenthusiastically, and just as casually he let his body slide off his chair, giving him a lazy, juvenile appearance.

"Sit properly," the Hoenn champion ordered snappily.

Brawly snorted, dragging his words slowly. "I do what I want." However, he straightened himself in his seat after he acknowledged the deathly glare Norman sent him, folded his hands on his lap, and kept his focus on the floor rather than on everyone around him – he would overlook Steven snickering at him this one time only.

* * *

She was making all the _wrong _choices.

He cringed, more often times than not, having to bear witness to the scene before him: he would admit Sapphire's aggron had some experience in battle—he also never doubted her specifically, evidently she has come along way in her own journey, whatever it may possibly be, if she was able to raise and care for a small little aron to become a full-grown aggron—but it was unmatched against Metagross' experience for the many years it has been with Steven. Sapphire desired a battle, which she herself was somewhat earning, but her expectation to win was ridiculous.

She was battling with an aggron she has owned for no longer than two years at most, she thought she would win against a pokémon owned by the former champion of the region when all she had—or at least he assumed—was two or three badges. Ruby groaned on Sapphire's behalf as her aggron endured Metagross' hyper beam directly, distractingly he shifted tensely from one foot to the other.

Despite trying to ignore Norman most of the time when they had a one-on-one session about pokémon strategies and battle, he would halfheartedly admit he did learn a few tips that remained lodged in the back of his head. He was aware of what he was doing, or at least what he could do, in a battle – but Sapphire was just applying brute force. Not once has he uttered a command to Metagross since the battle commenced, nor would he dare, because at least Metagross knew what it was doing without needing a human's guidance.

Sapphire had the right determination, Ruby would give her that, although several times she would appear conflicted for a brief moment, giving opportunistic openings for Metagross to attack. She stumbled with her words, her own commands, thus confusing Rono until it used its best judgment to deflect or attack. Ruby brought his hand to his mouth, and although it was an unsightly behavior on his account, he nervously nibbled on his fingernail. All her errors reminded him he was anything but perfect in battles, he had his share of errors – it was just her mistakes that stood out the most, that they had the potential to be corrected, yet she failed to seize the opportunity to fix them before it was too late.

He wanted the entire battle to come to a pause, walk over to her, and make an effort to instruct her on various methods to ease battle pressure and tension. Sapphire appeared too consumed to ever encourage Ruby to help her, the conflicting expressions on her face following a trend of utter frustration, shouting several commands that, again, were all strategically wrong. Eventually, if she ever settled herself in a calmly manner, he would definitely give her the battle she deserved, but for now he wanted to uphold the image of simply being a coordinator in her eyes.

Finally, Sapphire clenched her fist and barked loudly, "An' how come yer not tellin' Metagross to do 'nything?!"

His hand fell back to his side, his scarlet eyes narrowing slightly. "Metagross wanted this battle, not me. And you already know I only participate in _contests, _so keep me out of this savage sport." Faking an expression of boredom he continued, "I wouldn't know much, but I can say for sure your aggron's going to be feeling Metagross' hyper beam right about…_now_."

In her distraction, she failed to realize the incoming attack. Rather, she was left with her mouth agape as Rono staggered to regain its composure. Its endurance lasted, but eventually it went limp and collapsed on its side, its weak guttural groan indicating it was no longer able to battle. Ruby strode over to Metagross' side, noticing a few scratches and a thin film of debris on its legs from the aftermath of its attack and the very few successful blows from Rono. He smiled pleasantly, muttering a quiet "nice job" to the steel arachnid-like pokémon.

"Do you think you might need a potion?" Ruby offered, his voice edged with concern. If he was going to be with Metagross for a while, he knew it was his responsibility to take care of it. It also would not do him any good if Steven closely inspected his pokémon, only to ask why Metagross would be engaged in any battles.

Metagross' eyes shifted from the Aggron resting on the ground to Ruby; then wordlessly it returned its focus on the sight of the dots in the distance: the approaching city of Mauville.

"I don't have much on me," Ruby explained, pointedly unaware of Sapphire recalling Rono to its pokéball, her fingers brushing against the pokéball of her tropius. "You deserve something to eat. And I won't take no for answer," he trailed off, pausing thoughtfully before finishing, "or in your case I won't take silence as an answer-"

Metagross edged closer to the trainer-coordinator, using its body to provide some support to deflect the powerful gust of winds caused by the large flapping leaves on tropius' back, then quickly it gave a sideways glance to make sure Ruby has yet to stumble away from the wind. He could vaguely see from his distance that her tropius was injured, yet the large dual-type pokémon appeared to be fighting back the pain of being in flight. Cursing his bad vision, he could only see Sapphire as a blurry image-

Her voice was hoarse, fighting back the gasps in between. "I should'a never expected you ta' take me seriously!

It was like before when she departed so abruptly in Rustboro, leaving him to consume the sadness of tolerating his lost friendship, a friendship he was beginning to realize might never have the chance to be rekindled. He was grateful he never searched for his glasses; he was fully aware he could never stand the sight of her crying, so he allowed himself to be grateful for his poor eyesight.

She was a strong girl. He would let her leave without having to picture her tear-streaked face.

"We should get going too," he urged. Claiming his seat on the pokémon, Ruby huddled his legs close to his chest, his chin resting on his arms. "There's a contest waiting!"

Metagross, seemingly relieved with an answer, quickened its pace.

* * *

Arriving to the Pokémon Center provided Ruby with some nourishing food for his growling hunger. His pokémon were quick to eat from their dishes, as was Metagross surprisingly enough. In his room, he felt the vibration of his pokénav tucked under his pillow, a little hopeful he would receive some form of contact from Steven. However, it was merely the Chairman sending him a notice of a little festivity in Slateport within a few days to recover from "the accident," to uplift the mood of the civilians. He was urged to attend, reassured it would be an enjoyable event, and that there would be several vendors who might possibly be selling valuable berries for pokéblocks.

Traveling back to Slateport would be quite the distance, Ruby figured, but he did seek the best for his pokémon, and so with a meek smile he sent his reply: he would make his best attempt to arrive, although there would be no promises he would be attending. He received another message before he completely dozed off, masking his disappointment with fatigue upon seeing yet another text from the Chairman, this time alerting him he needed to enter the Pokémart to receive a parcel waiting for him by the next day.

After several twists and turns on the bed, Ruby fell asleep.

* * *

Steven made a visit to his pokémon, who were resting soundly in one of the available rooms the Center had to offer: Skarmory limped occasionally to reach for its food or even to walk around to stretch its long, wiry legs. Aggron was still bitter, but Claydol was more livelier than the other two in terms of energy, although it caused less chaos than it usually did to signal it was feeling just as upset as Steven still was. His other two party members did what he had little to no energy to do, so after the meeting was over, he quickly avoided any last comments by either Brawly or Wallace and headed straight for his room, bolting it closed behind him.

He was nervous, paranoid, guilty, and disappointed in himself: if Brawly was not present in the meeting, would he have been so carefree, or nearly as carefree as he was? Brawly definitely could never be there at all times. Eventually, Wallace might settle down to have a chat, a one-on-one talk, or just to catch up. What if something slipped and he said something to Norman that would have jeopardized, more than usual at least, Ruby's trust? Was Metagross unharmed, doing its job? Did the pair run into Aqua or Magma grunts who are possibly still hiding in the region? Was he really this useless?

He folded his hands, observing Skarmory nesting itself in a corner. When he tried to drum his fingers against his other hand, he cringed at the painful sting: the burn he received earlier—how could it have slipped his mind?

Before he could give it much of a thought, there was a knock at his door, followed by Wallace's concerned voice, "Are you still awake, Steven?"

He stiffened, his eyes searching the room. His arms fell back to his sides, he shook his head at his pokémon _not to make a single sound. _A minute or two passed before Wallace decided that perhaps Steven was asleep, then the echoing of his footsteps became softer and softer before they were gone completely.

* * *

The next morning, Steven accompanied Brawly to brunch—Steven woke up with a groggy head, the time alerting him with its blaring alarm it was a quarter to eleven. It was always rare of him to oversleep. He met with Brawly while walking through the hallway, apparently for the gym leader this was a casual time to awake to, and the two ate in relative silence. The morning has yet to process in the gym leader's head that his natural enthusiasm had yet to register, leaving him quiet and under control, not that Steven minded when he was thoroughly enjoying this side of the gym leader.

Steven managed to gracefully prevent himself from spluttering his drink when Wallace appeared with his tray of food, politely asking, "Mind if I join you?"

Brawly yawned, nearly dozing off eating his own meal, before muttering, "Knock yourself out."

Steven nodded into his cup of coffee.

Taking the empty seat and setting the tray down, Wallace proceeded to slice his omelet into equal slices, his eyes flickering from his meal to Steven. "It's been a full day and I have yet to see your companion."

Brawly woke up to that, blinking a few times to moisten his dry eyes. "Yeah, that's true. Where's Metagross?"

Steven casually set his coffee down, absently cutting a sausage link in half with his fork. "Spending some quality time with my father," he lied, then he plopped the food into his mouth.

* * *

Arriving in Mauville City was one thing. Arriving in Mauville city with a large, intimidating Metagross was an entirely a different story. He was more at ease exposing Metagross in Slateport, but Mauville was so compact and he wanted to avoid drawing attention upon himself, so before Metagross could protest or awaken, Ruby sent the pokémon back inside its respective pokéball, muttering an apology to the capsule before stashing the ball inside his pocket. He ordered a small meal with the little money he had to start the day, and through the pauses he was considering how he could utilize the time he had in Mauville before moving on.

When he was done eating, Ruby went straight to the shore to allow his pokémon to frolic and play for two hours. When his pokémon were content, he returned them back inside their pokéballs, then he dusted the sand off his pants to carry onto his next destination: the Pokémart. He stocked up on several supplies he needed, retrieved his parcel from the delivery man, and went outside to open its contents. Underneath the bed of bright tissue paper, he smiled upon finding a pokéblock case with his name engraved on it – it was a nice token for his win, he supposed, and he was pleased enough that he pocketed the case inside his backpack.

He definitely would move the current pokéblocks he had into the newer case much later, for he had already spotted Wattson pacing around the entrance of the city, mumbling to himself. When he received the gym leader's attention, asking whether he could battle him, Wattson perked an eager, joyful smile and accepted. But in their short walk back to the gym, Ruby noticed Wattson frequently looked over his shoulder, as if waiting for someone or something to appear.

The battle was over quickly, since Ruby used Zuzu the entire time, but every so often Wattson's pokémon did inflict regular damage or even lowered Zuzu's defense when his magneton used its awful metal sound attack that even brought Ruby to immediately clap his hands against his ears. He was bestowed the badge after the battle, and like usual, he faked his identity before the battle started to ensure he was not recognized by the gym leader, and finally giving an appreciative nod, he left the gym. His eyes scanned the area, a little lost on what to do next.

What would he do if he were to win the ribbon in Verdanturf? Proceed through the trail, make it to Flannery's gym, then eventually settle in Fallarbor if time permits so he could win the ribbon there too? If he could accomplish this within several days, that would be _fantastic_, but he knew that was being too hopeful, so he progressed through the trail, passed the elderly couple at the daycare, passed the few trainers asking him for a battle, which he willingly obliged to—might as well keep his pokémon fit for everything—until he reached the small neighboring town without difficulties.

Ruby was given less than a brief moment to process a kirlia pounced on him, overjoyed to see his arrival – and then his eyes widened; he perked a grin of his own, his arms looping against the pokémon's thin frame.

"Ruru! It's so nice to see you again!"

She eagerly helped Ruby back onto his feet, giving her own responses every time Ruby posed a question of her well-being, and along the way he excitedly complemented how stunning she became upon her evolution. She guided him to a small house, Ruby's smile faltered a little – well, he knew this was going to happen eventually. As if seeing Sapphire wasn't enough, now it's the other he would have to meet.

* * *

Steven was able to secure some privacy while Wallace and Brawly talked to each other, so to quell his ongoing curiosity, he contacted Wattson.

"Morning, Stevie-boy!"

"Good morning to you too, Wattson. I'm just wondering if they ever arrived…?"

On the other end, Wattson made a disappointed hum. "No, but I'll stay on the lookout."

Steven thanked him and ended the call, closing his eyes to regain himself before his imagination could spawn different scenarios in his head that would have caused Ruby and Metagross not to arrive at Mauville. He reasoned with himself that they were on their way, just taking their time, because at least that reasoning made him less paranoid than he already was.

* * *

No, Ruby did not see Wally, nor would he. Wally was a sickly child since birth, so it came as an honest surprise to Ruby when the green-haired boy's relatives informed him that he was on his own journey. They invited him to a homemade meal and a drink, which he definitely had no intention of declining, and they clarified that Ruru was left behind in case Ruby visited. So, in the end, he did not have to plan an entire conversation in his head, and he had his precious pokémon back, but he would never deny a lingering disappointment for being unable to see Wally.

Wally was easier to relate to than someone like Steven, considering the age gap and one-sided admiration. Ruby also considered Wally better to actually hold a conversation with: he barely had to try to impress him, rarely stumbled with his words – unlike with Steven when he had to consider every single tidbit before engaging in small talk. Ruby was more than ready to take on the contest they were holding today—then again, they held it on every other day, but he felt like he was on a roll today, that nothing can stop a newly formed enthusiasm to win more than ever—with his recently reunited and evolved pokémon. With this determination in mind, the pair exited the house, bidding farewell to Wally's relatives.

At the Pokémon Center in Verdanturf, Ruby polished Ruru's red horns, fed her several pokéblocks—the leftover pokéblocks were switched into the newer pokéblock case he received—and told her a few techniques to impress the judges, but she was already a natural when she was just a ralts. Ruby watched her from a table as she readied herself, meanwhile recalling the guilt he has been suffering for leaving Metagross in its ball. Maybe tonight he'll let Metagross out, or perhaps tomorrow to start a brand new day: it might either be entirely cranky after being forced into its ball for once or less cranky because it was able to sleep and be inactive for an entire day.

As they left the Center, he asked Ruru, perking a confident smile, "Are you ready to get yourself a ribbon?"

* * *

Wallace announced that enough information was gathered, and Nurse Joy gave the sign that Brawly and Norman were well enough to leave if they chose to. Norman was the first to head out without saying a word, not that Wallace said much about it, if only thanking him for his efforts to protect the meteorite, leaving Steven and Brawly exchanging glances, curious to know whether they were allowed to leave.

Getting no response, Brawly shrugged his shoulders and decided on his account he was going to leave. He whispered into Steven's ear of the perfect drink available in Lavaridge town sold by an elderly man who was usually seated on a stool near the sand beds, the perfect liquor that, even though it will likely give him a headache in the morning if he consumed too much—as was the case for any other drink—he could have a definite guarantee he would unwind and forget absolutely everything in his tipsy state without fail.

Steven rolled his eyes but smiled wholeheartedly, responding with "Maybe I'll give it a try someday" in between his chuckle. Brawly gave the former champion a tight hug, an endearing action if Steven didn't feel as if his bones weren't breaking or if he wasn't losing his breath. Wallace stepped away from Brawly when he opened his arms wide as he approached, not wanting to be equally crushed. Instead, Wallace gave the gym leader a pat on his shoulder, thanking him for his efforts and giving him his hopes for a speedier recovery on the rest of his minor injuries.

A silence registered between the two men after he left.

"I'd best be off too," Wallace remarked quickly. "If there's anything that lowers this amount of unneeded stress, it's contests."

"Only you," Steven said good-naturedly. His blue eyes searched around, unsure whether he should announce that he was more than ready to leave – but he wanted to avoid taking off to the skies at the same time. Yet the words he never intended to ask stumbled out of his mouth, "How is Winona fairing?"

Wallace blinked, surprised at first, before beaming a warm smile. "Fine, thank you."

An hour after Wallace left the Pokémon Center; Steven ascended the staircase to his room, inspecting his Skarmory's injuries to see if his pokémon was still capable of flying. Skarmory, being the stubborn creature it is, straightened itself and flapped its wings, exposing several burnt and broken red-plated feathers. Sensing its trainer's doubt, it began viciously pecking at Steven's injury before he finally yielded to Skarmory's demand – he was giving Skarmory his every hope. He wanted to arrive to Mauville as soon as possible to make sure that Ruby was safe, and that his longtime companion was safe.

When they were outside, Skarmory flapped its wings, struggling at first to take flight but steadily adjusting to its injuries by making a practice lap around the town. It reached ground level again, cawing at Steven to mount its back.

* * *

Three excruciating hours in, with a close call every now and then between himself and the other contestants, Ruby's kirlia was awarded a ribbon it rightfully deserved. Knowing the reporters were going to interview him any minute, he asked his darling Ruru to teleport him out of the contest hall: it was an easier alternative than running for dear life to the exit; now that he had Ruru, Ruby could teleport at any given time to escape when desperate measures were necessary.

He had the entire day to spare; the sky was brightly lit with blue hues and puffy skies, rather than the warm orange rays of colors that would signal the setting sun. Ruby nervously nibbled on his fingernail, weighing one option after the other – he never knew how long it would take Steven to return, or if he would ever, but he already left Slateport. It might take a few days to realize he left both Mauville and Slateport, and in those days, Ruby could have already arrived at Lavaridge, or beaten Flannery, or even arrived at Fallarbor for the next contest that awaits him.

"Forget Steven," he growled moodily. He should have been more upset that he was left behind to begin with, that he left without a clear explanation. So he considered the most important aspect: why should he have to wait? Metagross did belong to Steven, to be fair, and he was not planning to keep the pokémon as his party member, but the trainer-coordinator assumed that one day they will reunite.

If not, Ruby would free Metagross from its pokéball to search for Steven on its own should the days turn into months. Nodding to himself, he bought himself a snack for the road, his kirlia following close behind, and got her approval to advance in their own quest to route 111.

He would have liked to say he made significant progress, that he made it halfway through the treacherous path teeming with trainers, past the crazy family that insisted on him defeating every single member in their household, and found safety from the gusts of wind that carried specks of sand which landed straight in his eyes. No, he only made it a little past the odd house, had set his glasses on—Ruby was steadily becoming irritated by how much sand landed in his eyes in only twenty minutes—before he heard a familiar cawing echoing in the distance.

Ruru quirked her head, tugging on her trainer's sleeve and pointing with the other hand at the gray speck in the air. This time, he could see clearly with his corrective lenses, and his eager disposition was quickly falling into a state of indifference. "So much for waiting months."

He never disliked Skarmory more than he has now: its perfect vision, despite the altitude, easily spotted him.

Skarmory and its passenger were rapidly approaching the ground.

* * *

**A/N**: And continuing from the note above I decided against writing a battle with Watson for two reasons: one - marshtomp. Again, too easy. Two - progression is very much required. I'll see what other gym battles I might exclude/include. That includes pokemon contest because, really, it's just too much text when I attempt it.

until next time! whenever that is /brick'd.


	17. A Notice

Hello friends!

I know I'm not allowed to post a note like this and all that jazz, but this is just an important notice that's going to, well…be the bearer of bad news. For the past few months not only did I cringe hella hard when I gave this a read-through, I find myself unable to finish. It's nothing new from me since I'm not the best at commitments, but I would like to sincerely apologize for those who may have looked forward to this? I'm not going to hide anything this time, I'll be honest why I can't bring myself to continue, you deserve it after all. Like, I'm just some bad authoress that started this back when I was filled with some stupid ambition even though I should have knew it would weather down after time (I believe I was entering freshman year when I began writing this?) So for the past months, maybe even two years plus I thought I was able to control my emotions, but as of recently I see that's nothing going so well every now and then. Rest at ease, I'm not suicidal, heavens no! I wouldn't say depressed entirely either, but I've been noticing something:

Ambitions? None of it. Looking forward to things? Not really. I'm losing interest in a lot of things, like I keep myself entertained and the works, but I'm not feeling like my old self. These aren't high alarms or anything, and just to reassure you my life is actually pretty solid, including school life. I really think it's the before-college blues? Growing up? Who knows.

I digress. The main focus of my other problem: this story in general. My sister's a psych major, but I don't need her to acknowledge the fact my anxiety and paranoia levels aren't too great right now. I would like to elaborate on it but I can't, so forgive me on that part. Now I'm going to give myself extra time before deciding whether it's time to let this go, but let's be real here: I think I might just so I can breathe again, and if this story is taken down somewhere this Sunday, well then it looks like I made my decision. I might even prolong it if my mood gets any better or if I get inspired again by some remote chance. If I do let this go, and by any chance you were curious of what I had planned, you could always send me a PM! It won't be overly detailed at all, like it'll be a bullet list with like two sentences each at most. Don't be terrified either if you really want to know either, I'm harmless!

Thank you all for being the sweetest people I have ever met/talked to briefly/just for your support in general! Which brings me to the last important message: I'm done. Once I finish Forever and Always—no, I will finish it, it doesn't plague my mind unlike NU. You can chase me down if I don't aha—I'm calling it quits. FFN has been a major part of my life and I think it's about time I set it aside, especially since my inferiority complex is worsening as well. (Boy, aren't I a handful? Wowie!) I might post a one-shot if something encourages me enough to make something, but I'm pretty much kinda gone. (And no, I don't believe I'll be deleting my account. It's gonna stay as a historic relic or something yay) I just can't see myself doing updates in college; I can barely keep up with updates as it is anyway. And for that, I apologize.

**TL;DR**: I may not continue this story due to several personal issues but I'm willing to send a brief outline to whoever may be interested in a PM. If this becomes discontinued and erased this Sunday, I just want to thank you for helping me with your endless amount of support for this crummy story. Forever and Always will not be discontinued as far as I know, I have chapter eight done…just not seven weeps. It's on its way though! :)

Thank you for your time, and I'm sorry that my decisions are basically the epitome of selfishness ahh.

_-Bell_


End file.
